Calgary’s Canada Day fireworks could change following residential school discovery
Posted Jun 25, 2021 6:53 pm.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — The City of Calgary could cancel its Canada Day fireworks celebration after the horrific discovery of 751 unmarked graves near a former residential school in Saskatchewan.
“We may make a change on the fireworks over the next few days,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Friday.
“But we’ll do so in a respectful way after really engaging with Calgarians, particularly, but not exclusively with Indigenous people, with elders and others and see what the right thing to do is this year.”
After the horrific discovery, the mayor says there are discussions to be had around if the city should postpone the fireworks given that we are in a period of mourning.
“It’s not about cancelling Canada Day, it’s not about taking away the celebration, but it is about understanding that this year is a different year,” Nenshi said.
The city announced its plans for celebration on Wednesday, which included a firework show and kits to help Calgarians mark Canada Day safely.
Nenshi says looking back on that announcement, he feels the messaging could have been taken the wrong way.
“It might have felt a little celebratory,” he added.
“And maybe I didn’t put through as clearly as I could have or should have that this year’s Canada Day is different. It’s not different just because we’re not gathering together, it’s different because we’ve got a lot on our mind. It really is a moment of reckoning for the city.”
While the kits include things like a beach ball and sidewalk chalk, Nenshi says it also contains content on how to teach children about Canada’s Indigenous history.
