Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has placed himself in an impossible situation by lowering Canada’s flags indefinitely after the discovery of unidentified burials in residential schools for Indigenous people, according to Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.
The flag debate rages across the country just one week from Remembrance Day. The Royal Canadian Legion wants it to be hoisted again on the Peace Tower of the Parliament and on the federal buildings so that it can be half-masted, later, during the commemoration ceremonies of November 11.
The Assembly of First Nations is not against it, but it is asking the government to make another symbolic gesture to recognize the deaths of several hundred children in residential schools. the National Post reported Wednesday night that the flag would be hoisted next week in time to be half-masted for Remembrance Day, but the Prime Minister’s Office declined to confirm this information. “Discussions are continuing,” said its assistant director of communications, Chantal Gagnon.
“The Trudeau government – on the basis of appearances and certainly not on the basis of gestures – has handed over the flag of its country to it a bit hostage to people who will express demands in many respects that are totally legitimate,” said the Bloc leader in response to a journalist’s question during a press briefing on Wednesday. He called on Justin Trudeau to do something “for real” and said he was in favor of the First Nations on the issue of their relationship with the federal government.
“I want to let him solve his problem”
“Ultimately, I see with a certain irony the situation in which the Prime Minister of Canada has put himself, but I want to let him solve his problem,” he added. He was careful to point out from the outset that he was “not very active in promoting the Canadian flag on Quebec territory”.
The day before, Mr. Trudeau had said he was optimistic about reaching an agreement with the aboriginal peoples, without giving more details on the gesture or actions he would be ready to take. “I know that on November 11, we will be able to lower the Canadian flag across the country,” he said from Glasgow, Scotland. How we are going to get there, we are in the process of talking very closely with the aboriginal peoples to ensure that it is done in the right way. ”
On the same day, he came under criticism from Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who called for an end to the maple leaf half-mast before the start of Remembrance Week. “It was appropriate to lower the flag at half mast to recognize the tragic history of the residential schools and the trauma it caused to generations of indigenous peoples across Canada,” he wrote in an open letter.
“However, it was not appropriate to put it at half mast without some form of protocol or plan to restore Canada’s most important national symbol to its rightful place,” he added.
Prime Minister Trudeau called for the Canadian flag to be half-masted on May 30 after the remains of 215 children were found at the Kamloops residential school site in British Columbia.