Flags at City facilities are lowered today in memory of 215 children who remains were found near a former Kamloops, B.C. residential school.

Flags will remain lowered for 215 hours – one hour for every child whose life was lost.

“Grand Chief Abram Benedict and I have been in touch to discuss how the City of Cornwall can offer its support,” said Mayor Bernadette Clement. “We lower flags today with profound respect in recognition that the generational pain continues and as support for healing.”

“Our neighbours, the Mohawks of Akwesasne, are an important part of our community and we must try harder to recognize and acknowledge this dark history and to understand the impact it has had on indigenous people and their communities,” added Mayor Clement. “In order to do better and be better, we must all seek a deeper understanding of indigenous history, culture, and the lived experience of generational pain and racism that still exists today.”