Canada Day celebrations in Pembroke looked different this year (2021).
Residents wore orange and purple to honour the lives of Indigenous children lost at residential schools across Canada.
A gathering took place outside the Pembroke courthouse yesterday (July 1st, 2021), with Pembroke Mayor Mike Lemay encouraging residents to continue to show displays of solidarity with the Indigenous community.
Local Indigenous resident Duane Gastant’ Aucoin shared a story about how his mother was taken away to a residential school.
Aucoin says she survived, but many others didn’t.
Those in attendance marched in the rain to the Pembroke Street bridge where orange and purple ribbons were tied up.
The ribbons will stay up along the bridge until the end of the Summer solstice in September.
Fireworks that were originally planned in Pembroke for Canada Day will take place in August if COVID-19 restrictions allow.
A gathering outside the Pembroke courthouse to honour the lives of the Indigenous children found at residential schools across Canada.
Posted by 104.9 myFM on Thursday, July 1, 2021