Skip to content

Calgary plans permanent residential school memorial after vandalism

City Hall temporary memorial vandalized in the Alberta city

Plans are underway to create a permanent memorial for victims of Canada’s residential schools to replace a fire-damaged one that includes hundreds of children’s shoes on the steps of Calgary City Hall.

The temporary memorial, which also has stuffed animals and a child’s bicycle, was blessed by Indigenous elders in a pipe ceremony Thursday (Aug. 26).

The city and Calgary’s Indigenous and Metis communities have committed to work toward building a permanent marker to remember the children who died in the schools.

The site has been the target of recent vandalism: ashes can be seen in one area where someone tried to burn a teddy bear and some shoes.

This summer, hundreds of unmarked graves have been discovered at institutions Indigenous children were forced to attend for decades across Canada.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Want to support local journalism? Make a donation here.