Flags on civic buildings in Toronto will be lowered to half-mast in memory of those found buried in unmarked graves at the site of two former residential schools in Saskatchewan.
In a tweet Tuesday, Toronto Mayor John Tory said flags at City Hall, civic centres and other facilities will be flown at half-mast “in memory of the 54 individuals buried in unmarked graves on the Keeseekoose First Nation at the site of two residential schools and to honour all those who did not return.”
According to Tory, the flags will be flown at half-mast until Thursday.
Tory also said the Toronto sign would be lit orange Tuesday evening and into Wednesday.
The move comes hours after Keeseekoose First Nation said it received 54 hits from ground-penetrating radar on the grounds of the former Fort Pelly and St. Philips residential schools near Kamsack.
Both schools were run by the Catholic church.
“It’s going to be a very tough time for our community knowing that we have unmarked graves in our community,” Chief Lee Kitchemonia told a press conference Tuesday.
“Somebody has to be held accountable for it.”
Ted Quewezance, the former chief of the First Nation, said the locations being scanned were identified by “survivors and knowledge keepers from oral history.”
Quewezance, who is also a residential school survivor said the ground-penetrating radar “simply validated our oral history.”
In a tweet on Tuesday, Canada’s Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations said Canada will “continue to support communities across Canada as these devastating findings are disclosed.”
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.
— with files from Global News’ Dave Giles