Overview

• First Nations, Inuit and Métis Survivors gathered on Parliament Hill to re-raise the Survivors’ Flag in memory of children who never returned home.
• Participants included Elders and national Indigenous leaders alongside Governor General Mary Simon, Crown–Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and representatives from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
• Survivors shared searing testimony, with Eugene Arcand recalling widespread daily abuse and noting that only seven of the 32 children in his school photo are still alive.
• Coverage reiterated the scale of the system, which forced about 150,000 Indigenous children into church-run, government-funded schools and saw an estimated 6,000 deaths.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to “match remembrance with responsibility,” and survivors such as Lucien Wabanonik urged sustained, long-term action, with immediate supports highlighted through the National Residential Schools Crisis Line and the Hope for Wellness Helpline.