OTTAWA -- As the Freedom Convoy continues to lockdown Parliament Hill and Ottawa's downtown core, some lead organizers are now choosing to bring more awareness to the Every Child Matters campaign, while calling for student walkouts to end mask mandates and COVID-19 restrictions in schools.
“Orange Shirt Day tomorrow. We’re doing Every Child Matters tomorrow, a moment of silence at (Parliament Hill) and everywhere else for the kids, a worldwide walkout for the kids, let’s go kids. Let’s go. Get those masks off. You don’t need them,” one of the convoy's organizers said Thursday in a video that was livestreamed on Facebook.
In another Facebook Live video posted on Thursday by convoy supporter Pat King, the same organizer can be heard talking about protesting at schools: “Go to the schools and let the kids see the convoy, Every Child Matters baby, let’s go!”
"Every Child Matters" is a slogan used to support Orange Shirt Day, which Phyllis Webstad founded in 2013 to raise awareness of the residential school system. At six years old, Webstad attended her first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission where her brand-new favourite orange shirt she got from her family was taken away and never returned.
Orange Shirt Day is commemorated on Sept. 30. The same date was selected for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, largely because of Webstad's work.
On Friday, Webstad was quick to speak up in opposition to the protesters' proclamation that Friday would be an additional Orange Shirt Day.
“Orange Shirt Day with the phrase 'Every Child Matters' is a cause focusing the importance of truth and reconciliation. With this in mind, the Orange Shirt Society does not endorse the recent announcement of Orange Shirt Day occurring on Feb. 11 by protest organizers,” Webstad told CTV News in a statement.
Protesters said they planned to circle schools and honk their horns to get students and staff to walk out. A rally on Parliament Hill was planned for Friday afternoon with an Indigenous speaker, and protesters encouraged others to wear orange to honour and remember Indigenous children who never made it home from residential schools.
In emails sent to parents, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board said any protest at schools is “unacceptable,” adding schools are for learning and the safety of students and staff should not be threatened.
“We recognize that this continues to be a challenging time for many. The ongoing noise, disruption and protests can be intimidating and can cause distraction and stress for students and their families,” added the board.
During one of Thursday's livestreamed videos, the convoy organizer said that he had "just found out" that "they found 95 kids that have not been talked about" at Williams Lake First Nation, the same community in B.C. where Webstad stayed in a residential school.
After 2 p.m. EST on Friday, it appears the planned convoy protests surrounding schools and school walkouts did not happen in Ottawa. However the event on Parliament Hill did.
Three Indigenous speakers acting on their own went on stage. They gave a prayer and had a moment of silence for the Indigenous children who died in residential schools and foster homes.
Another Indigenous supporter carried a sign with a semi on it, saying, “Ask about the children while you’re there. Every Child Matters.”
“Let us not forget them, we are slowly bringing them home, the graves (at residential school sites) are being uncovered. As a residential school survivor of every broken policy this corporation (Canada) put forth, including the '60s Scoop, residential school system, relocations, the federal day schools and the experimentation. These types of policies have to end,” said residential school and '60s Scoop survivor Noeline Villebrum.
She says she wanted to bring more awareness to past and current government policies against Indigenous people.
“We come here to share the truth and help people understand,” she added.
Villebrum says every Indigenous leader who spoke out against the convoy have a right to their opinion, but she is speaking to the convoy as a residential school survivor.
She said she means no disrespect towards the Every Child Matters campaign.
“If (Webstad) does not want us to wear orange, I will not wear orange. I will wear my ordinary clothes, but the fact is we need to communicate, we need to share these stories and we need the support from everyone in this country.”
CTV News and other media have reported on the discovery of 93 burial sites on the grounds of the former St. Joseph Mission residential school in Williams Lake.
The school operated between 1891 and 1981 and has since been largely demolished. The investigation is ongoing and much of the 470 hectares still needs to be searched.
