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<\/p>\nIn 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded the schools were central to a state-backed policy of cultural genocide.<\/p>\n
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In Edmonton on Wednesday, dozens of people gathered at Fort Edmonton Park with bright orange shirts, the symbol for the children who attended residential schools, dotting the crowd. Many had bannock and sipped on warm beverages on the chilly autumn morning.<\/p>\n
Carney, who was born in the Northwest Territories and raised in Edmonton, recalled in his speech the numerous visits to Fort Edmonton in his youth.<\/p>\n
Before his speech, he entered the ceremony area flanked by Treaty 6 chiefs marching to the beat of drums and dressed in traditional attire. Alberta Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani also spoke and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was also present.<\/p>\n
Carney said the ceremony urged everyone to hear the stories of those affected by the residential school system and \u201creflect on a dark chapter in Canada\u2019s past and to commit to move forward together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a distant chapter in Canada\u2019s past, but a truth that endures,\u201d said Carney, who wore an orange tie and a pin of a beaded orange T-shirt on his lapel. <\/p>\n
\u201cReconciliation is a journey, not a destination. It\u2019s an attitude, not an achievement. Our job is to move together as far and as fast down the path as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Treaty 6 Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. said healing is especially important.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t have reconciliation without truth \u2014 a truth that First Nations know so well can be difficult and we see it rejected, replaced with opinion and misinformation,\u201d he told the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntruths about Canada\u2019s past stand directly in the way of healing our relationship and moving forward in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrea Sandmaier, president of the Otipemisiwak M\u00e9tis government, said truth and reconciliation isn\u2019t just for one day of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the progress that has been made, there are still people out there across Canada, in our very own communities, who refuse to listen to those truths, who deny the undeniable,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not new to Indigenous people. It is something we have experienced for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandmaier urged non-Indigenous people who see residential school denialism in person or online to \u201ccall it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not let misinformation and racism spread unchecked through our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded the schools were central to a state-backed policy of cultural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":916587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-916586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}