Owen Sound’s Canada Day celebration has been amended to include a five-minute pause prior to the fireworks display to allow for silent reflection or education about what Indigenous communities are coping with and why.
The period of reflection will take place at 9:55 p.m. on July 1.
The city made an adjustment to its plan on Tuesday afternoon after council approved a motion introduced by Deputy Mayor Brian O’Leary at Monday night’s meeting to arrange for all available ambulances, police vehicles, and fire trucks to be spread around the city on July 1 to activate their lights and sirens at exactly 9:54 p.m. for a period of one minute.
The idea was to have the five minute pause begin immediately after the sirens fell silent.
However, Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy put out a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying his office received numerous calls concerning the plan to use sirens and lights of emergency vehicles and the messages were a “touchpoint of education” and they would not be included in the agenda for July 1 after all.
“I call on all of our citizens and those who choose to participate in the fireworks at 10 p.m. to use those five minutes as we intended,” Boddy said in a statement. “Pause and reflect on where we have been as a country and how we can all work together to make it better.”
At Monday’s meeting when council passed its original change of plans for Canada Day, O’Leary said people are being asked to use this five minutes of silence to pause, reflect or educate your children on what Indigenous communities are going through and why.
“For all of us to both heal and move forward, it has to be done through education,” O’Leary explained. “We have to do our part not only as individuals, but as parents and educators.”
The gesture being added to Owen Sound’s Canada Day plans comes as the nation continues to cope with the recent discoveries of remains of hundreds of Indigenous children in unmarked graves at former residential school sites in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
The city will also include material about education and awareness as part of its virtual presentation which will begin at 2 p.m. on July 1. The virtual show will feature several acts by local musicians and other family entertainment.
During Monday’s meeting, Boddy acknowledged members of council received many correspondences over the past few days from both people who wanted the city to cancel this year’s Canada Day event, and others who supported it going ahead.
He stressed council’s discussion about its Canada Day plans is not intended to be interpreted as a lack of respect for the heritage, contributions, sacrifices or diverse cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across the country, especially the people of Saugeen Ojibway Nation, the Great Lakes Métis and the victims and survivors of residential schools.
“Nor should my support of the recognition of Canada Day be interpreted as a lack of respect,” Boddy said. “I am however a proud Canadian. I’m proud of much of our history. I’m not proud of all of our history.”
Mayor Boddy said there are few countries that can have the conversation Canada is having today about its history and recognize it is not perfect. He recited some of the steps Canada has taken to recognize the horrors of residential schools — such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission — and said to him starting to take these steps is part of what makes Canada a good place.
Boddy said instead of cancelling the recognition of our country, he prefers to use it as a rally cry to the community.
“I want to use this opportunity as an education tool. I’m afraid if we cancel it then it just goes away and people will go on with their barbecues, ignore it, not think about it and just get on with their merry little lives,” Boddy explained. “I want to force them to stop and think about it. I want everybody in our community to take the opportunity to stop and think about it.”
Boddy also encouraged everyone to take the time to read the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada reports that were released in 2015.
“When the Truth and Reconciliation commission report came out in 2015 everyone was excited, but nobody read it quite obviously, because the stories were in there about these graves and the treatment of the children that were put in those schools,” Boddy explained. “Now that this evidence is coming out, people are starting to notice. And I’m glad they’re starting to notice. I’m glad they’re starting to pay attention to this.”
Coun. John Tamming expressed interest at last night’s meeting in bringing forward a motion to suspend all city sponsored Canada Day activities, but decided against introducing it after hearing his colleagues speak and resolve to add the gestures.
He described the residential school system as Canada’s “original sin” and likened it to United States’ history of slavery.
“Slavery has been called the original sin of neighbours to the south,” Tamming said. “I believe this is to be Canada’s original sin: the defacto imprisonment of our Aboriginal youth, under an Indian Act which mandated the forced relocation of eight-year-old girls and 12-year-old boys.”
Tamming said reasonable people can disagree on how best to comport ourselves in the face of these recent discoveries, but for him it just does not feel right for this city to party.
“I would have our Aboriginal brothers and sisters hear that this city, in view of the recent news, was overwhelmed,” Tamming said. “Let the youth of Saugeen, let the elders of Cape Croker, let the First Nations peoples who live on our streets, let them hear that when we were confronted with our original sin we had nothing to say. And in the face of such sad horror, for a year, we were rendered without fireworks, without speech, and without song.”
Beyond Canada Day, Owen Sound council took several steps at Monday’s meeting to further advance reconciliation.
A motion passed introduced by Coun. Richard Thomas directing the Mayor to send a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Alex Ruff, expressing in the strongest terms the need to move forward with all 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Further, council directed staff to bring options for including Indigenous voices as part of the city’s annual review of boards and committees later this summer.
Coun. Carol Merton also gave notice she intends to introduce a motion at council’s next meeting to direct staff to include in Owen Sound’s procedural by-law review in August an expansion of the current land acknowledge practice, by beginning each council, committee and public meeting with an appropriate land acknowledgement — and to have it as part of all minutes and on the city’s website.
Her motion to be voted on at council’s July 19 meeting will also direct staff to include actions that will support the work of reconciliation through the strategic plan refresh — which includes the creation of a comprehensive corporate equity, diversity and inclusion strategy by December 2022.
Editor’s note: This story was updated from an earlier version to add more information, comments and reflect developing details.
