Photo credit: Toronto Today
A fire burned warmly outside the Toronto City Hall to warm the cold temperatures on Saturday morning as veterans, service members and Indigenous people from diverse backgrounds gathered to observe Indigenous Veterans Day.
Toronto Today reports that every November 8 honours the thousands of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people who have served in Canada’s military. Indigenous Veterans Day was first commemorated in Winnipeg in 1994, when Indigenous veterans were still excluded from official Remembrance Day ceremonies.
On Saturday morning, Young Spiritual Elder Noodjmowin led attendees in a sacred fire ceremony that involved singing, drumming, tobacco offerings and sharing stories as a means to honour veterans and grapple with painful histories.
Mayor Oliver Chow, Minister of Veterans Affairs Jill McKnight, Toronto Centre MP Evan Solomon and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Edith Dumont lined up alongside audience members to place tobacco into the fire and pay their respects to the veterans in a sharing circle.
Rob Baskey, a Metis veteran who served in a United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, spoke during the sharing circle about the recent history of Indigenous veterans being denied pensions and benefits for their military service.
In 2003, the federal government formally apologized to First Nations veterans and created a $39 million fund to compensate those who had been denied their full benefits under the Veterans’ Land Act.
In 2019, the Canadian government also apologized to Metis veterans and set aside $30 million specifically for those who served in the Second World War.
Baskey implored attendees gathered at the ceremony to help him find more Metis veterans so they can access these funds.
He said Indigenous Veterans Day is an “important act of reconciliation” between Indigenous peoples and Canada. He lauded the Metis Veterans Recognition Payment as an attempt to “right the wrong.”
He said at least five Metis veterans have received $20,000 recognition payments through the fund. Children of Metis veterans are also eligible for payment if their parent died after 2016.
