More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
For the past six years, Geraldine Shingoose has been sharing her truths as a residential school survivor -- or warrior as she prefers to be called -- in Manitoba classrooms.
As Canada prepares to recognize the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Thursday, Shingoose, who is affectionately known as Gramma Shingoose, says the desire to hear from survivors has soared across the country.
"This year, 2021, is a year of truth for us survivors," Shingoose said in an interview.
When the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced the grim discovery of what are believed to be the 215 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., Canadians had to face the horrific realities Indigenous children and youth had to live with while being forced to attend the schools.
Stories of unmarked burial grounds were featured in a report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2015, but the events of this summer sparked a national conversation unlike anything before.
The federal government implemented Sept. 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is a direct response to one of the commission's calls to action. The day is a statutory holiday for all federal employees and federally regulated workplaces.
Some schools, businesses and different levels of government across the country are also choosing to observe the day, which is also known as Orange Shirt Day.
As non-Indigenous people in Canada navigate the best way to commemorate and honour survivors and their families, educators and those who were forced to attend the schools are offering advice on what can be done in the lead up to Sept. 30.
Shingoose believes it's important to listen to survivors' experiences.
"I ask Canada to see us, to hear us and to believe us," she said, echoing the sentiments of Murray Sinclair, who served as chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
This year Shingoose suggests Canadians take a moment of silence at 2:15 p.m. -- referring to the number of graves found in Kamloops.
She adds small gestures such as displaying an orange shirt in your window can have a powerful impact on survivors.
Shingoose and other survivors set out on a trip from Winnipeg to Kamloops over the summer. Along the way, they saw displays of solidarity in the windows of homes and businesses.
"It (was) so beautiful to see. I (was) really touched by seeing all of that," said Shingoose.
When it comes to sharing the history of residential schools in classrooms, some educators say the topic can and should be broached early for school-age children.
In some provinces, the topic has been deemed inappropriate for younger grades.
Linda Isaac is an educator from Alderville First Nation in Ontario and the national director of Indigenous education, equity and inclusion at educational publisher Nelson. She said education for younger children should include the importance of elders in the community, what an Indigenous family may look like, or important core values for Indigenous families.
"If we can educate young children about the importance of family and community and harmony and all of those things that are part of Indigenous life and ways of knowing, so that they fully understand the impacts, we'll have a new generation of people," she said.
Charlene Bearhead is the director of reconciliation at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. She has spent her career as an educator and Indigenous education advocate.
Bearhead said education on residential schools needs to happen year-round, but teachers can pass on their own calls to action for students to share what they've learned with family, friends or their faith communities in the days leading up to Sept. 30.
"It's a day to have reflection. It's a day to have these conversations."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2021.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook-Canadian Press News Fellowship.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”