Orange shirts have been flying off the shelves at a new store in CF Polo Park mall.
The business, Indigenous Nations Apparel Company (INAC), is owned by Michelle Cameron. Cameron told 680 CJOB she couldn’t be more excited to share her culture, especially at a time when Canada’s relationship — past and present — with Indigenous people is being re-examined.
The orange shirts, which serve as a visual symbol to acknowledge and remember the victims of the country’s residential school system, have become must-have items for Canadians of all walks of life in the lead-up to Canada Day on Thursday.
“Hundreds and hundreds of orders have come through — there’s actually a Canada-wide shortage in orange shirts,” Cameron said.
“We’re doing our best to accommodate. I think we’ve got ample stock at the time, but I’m not sure how long that’ll last.”
Cameron said she couldn’t be happier that people are becoming more aware of Canada’s history and hopes the support continues.
That support is part of a larger call to take a close look at Canada Day celebrations, or at least to reconsider loud displays of patriotism in light of the recent discoveries of scores of unmarked graves on the sites of former residential schools across the country.
Manitoba opposition leader Wab Kinew told Global News he’s encouraging Manitobans and all Canadians to wear orange July 1.
“I think our country is in mourning, and we should keep that solemn feeling in mind as we approach July 1,” he said.
“What my family and I are going to do is we’re going to wear orange shirts, because that’s the symbol of the residential school survivors to represent what they lost — language, culture, childhoods, and now lives.
“So for us to wear that, it’s a symbol of our commitment to live up to the calls to action, and to do right by these children whose remains we’re now finding.”
Kinew said the news has affected so many Canadians — Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike.
“The legacy of residential schools like this one casts a long shadow, and it’s one that reaches into our province and reaches into Winnipeg and it affects so many people.”
Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman said going forward, Canada Day activities should evolve to be more inclusive, and that the holiday is a time for Canadians to “live up to the ideals we hold dear.”