Cowessess First Nation said last week that ground-penetrating radar found 751 unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Boarding School shortly after the remains of 215 children believed to be found in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Then on Wednesday, Lower Kootenay Band stated that a search using ground penetrating radar found 182 human remains in an unmarked grave near a former boarding school in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his speech on Canada’s National Day that the terrible discovery of the former boarding school site “naturally forces us to reflect on our country’s historical failures” and the injustices that still exist for many people.

Watch | Trudeau celebrates Canada Day this year:

Trudeau said: “Although we cannot change the past, we must firmly face these truths in order to plan a new and better path forward. We work together to solve problems with the indigenous people, and there is still much A long way to go,” he spent the day with his family.

The slogan “Don’t be proud of genocide” ranges from about 200 people wearing orange clothes in the rain in St. John’s to an estimated 3,000 marching on Capitol Hill, where there is a temporary shoe monument symbolizing the passing of young lives .

In Montreal, marchers held banners that read “Take our children home”, marchers in Edmonton and other places wore shirts that said “Every child is important”, and the flag on the top of the Peace Tower was at half mast. , To commemorate the boarding school.

Sheena Ballantyne, who participated in the Edmonton parade, said: “We are not asking for the cancellation of every Canada Day.” “This is a day of the year to commemorate these babies who were found to have never returned home. .”

In downtown Halifax, a group of 15 people read the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the history and legacy of boarding schools, and actions that could promote reconciliation.

In his Canada Day address, Perry Bellegarde, National Chief of the Aboriginal Congress, called for changes in the lives of Aboriginal people, including justice for boarding school survivors and the provision of clean drinking water for Aboriginal communities And healthy family.

“Governments at all levels have the opportunity to take action on the priorities of the indigenous peoples,” Bellegarde said in a video message. “There is a solid foundation for continued progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done before all of us. We cannot lose motivation.”

New opinion polls show that Canadians are rethinking the mainstream view that European settlers have discovered that Canada is making way for the First Nations of the land. A poll from Leger and the Canadian Research Association found that one in two respondents said that Aboriginal people “discovered Canada,” while one third said it was Jacques Cartier.

The same poll found that about six out of ten respondents had a positive attitude towards Sir John MacDonald, the first prime minister of Canada. Because of his role in establishing the boarding school system, his portrait has been displayed from various public displays. Deleted.

Jack Jedwab, the chairman of the association, said of the results: “People clearly know what happened, about the terrible tragedy of the boarding school.” “But I think it’s with Sir John A. MacDonald. There are not as many people connecting as we thought.”

Watch | Hundreds gathered in Montreal to denounce boarding school:

Hundreds of people gathered at Jeanne-Mance Park in Montreal on Thursday, not to celebrate Canada Day, but to condemn the country’s boarding school tradition. 1:00

Between June 18 and 20, the online panel surveyed 1,542 Canadians, but could not assign margins of error because the online panel was not considered a truly random sample.

Conservative Party leader Irene O’Toole stated in a statement on Canada’s National Day that reconciliation must be the central focus of the future, but the work must first build the nation’s people, not demolish Canada.

“We can celebrate the country we are now and the country we aspire to be,” he said.

As the marchers passed through downtown Ottawa, they passed a demonstration in the Supreme Court of Canada building. According to police estimates, there were about 300 people. They sometimes condemned the cancellation of Canada Day celebrations and public health restrictions, lockdowns and wear. The mask regulations accompany the COVID-19 pandemic.

The same sentiment prompted Calgary protesters to flock to the Canadian National Day parade to insult Alberta’s Minister of Health Taylor Sandro, his wife and two young boys. Others published in him. A short speech thanking the people of Alberta for being vaccinated against COVID-19.

In an interview with CBC News during a visit to the Ottawa Farmers Market, Trudeau said that he had spoken to people who were not sure whether to get vaccinated, and then they realized they could do this to help their neighbors and communities get rid of the pandemic.

“A lot of Canadians understand that this is the way forward,” Trudeau said in the interview. “But at the same time, there are a lot of elbow bumps, which are still masks. Be careful because we can do more and more things.”