The Nova Scotia Indigenous community is responding after ranking members of the Canadian Armed Forces — including Canada’s top soldier — took its members to task after disrupting an Indigenous ceremony on Canada Day.
Rebecca Thomas, a Mi’kmaq activist who attended the ceremony to mourn the atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples says the military’s apology was respectful.
“I was pleasantly surprised at the apology and without conditions. Just we’re sorry. This shouldn’t have happened. End of story. There were no conditions and that meant something,” said Thomas.
READ MORE: Canadian Armed Forces apologize for members’ actions at Indigenous ceremony in Halifax
Thomas is now calling on the military to address the root cause of the problem that led five of its members to interrupt the Indigenous protest.
“I think having a restorative justice peace is really important. I want them to understand why what they did was wrong … if you just punch them without adding that context it might further entrench them into this belief that Indigenous people are deviant or disruptive,” said Thomas.
Rear Admiral John Newton, the commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Navy on the East Coast, delivered the apology. He said the Indigenous community would be consulted about the incident.
“I will certainly go to my advisers and the Aboriginal community to get guidance on what to do,” said Newton on Tuesday.
The Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Jonathan Vance, went a step further in a statement released Tuesday night, calling the incident “deplorable.”
“Canadians should rest assured my senior leadership is seized of the matter,” said Vance. “The members involved will be removed from training and duties while we conduct an investigation and review the circumstances. Their future in the military is certainly in doubt.”
“I expect better.”
The Department of National Defence confirmed that Vance’s decision was already being carried out as of Wednesday morning.
While Vance was in Halifax on Wednesday he wasn’t made available for comment. According to Koronewski, Vance came to Nova Scotia’s capital for a pre-planned trip to meet with troops and other military stakeholders.
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‘Proud Boys’ incident
The five men, who said they were associated with “The Proud Boys, Maritime chapter,” were filmed during an encounter at a ceremony to mourn the atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples.
Rebecca Moore, who organized the ceremony, told the Canadian Press that dozens of people were gathered around the statue of Edward Cornwallis as Chief Grizzly Mamma, who is originally from British Columbia, shaved her head in an act of mourning.
Cornwallis, as governor of Nova Scotia, founded Halifax in 1749 and soon after issued a bounty on Mi’kmaq scalps in response to an attack on colonists.
One of the men carried a Red Ensign, which was the national flag until it was replaced by the Maple Leaf in 1965.
READ MORE: 2 Navy members linked to confrontation at indigenous ceremony in Halifax
Organizers call for ‘more than an apology’
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Moore told The Canadian Press on Wednesday she was happy the military apologized, but wants public acknowledgement that much of the East Coast is unceded Mi’kmaq territory.
“More than an apology, I need that education out there,” Rebecca Moore, a member of Nova Scotia’s Pictou Landing First Nation, said. “That needs to be well known. That needs to be broadcast loud and clear by the Canadian Armed Forces. They need to make sure that their employees are well aware of that to avoid future conflicts like this.
“We did not surrender our territory,” Moore said in an interview. “We are not a conquered people. This is unceded Mi’kmaq territory to this day … I would love for the defence minister of Canada to say that – to say that to his employees so they know that.”
She said the interruption of the ceremony Saturday was inexcusable.
“We wouldn’t go up and interrupt a Remembrance Day parade for people mourning their fallen soldiers,” she said. “It’s the same thing. It was disgraceful.”
‘Not tolerated’
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a Facebook post he had been made aware of the incident and stressed that “this kind of behaviour is not tolerated in the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Sajjan addressed the members of Halifax’s Mi’kmaq community and Chief Grizzly Mamma in his post, apologizing for the pain the incident had caused.
“I know my words cannot undo the disrespect that was shown to you and your community,” he wrote. “I know our government has much more work to do with respect to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”
He went on to say the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service is investigating and will determine if charges are to be laid.
— With files from Alexander Quon and Sean Previl, Global News, and The Canadian Press
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