The Canada Day parade, which had been set to take place by the Rotary Club of Yellowknife, has been cancelled out of respect for the Indigenous community.
The service club put out a news release on June 26 stating that the planned July 1 event no longer meets its Rotary Guiding Principles due to recent discoveries of unmarked graves at former Indian residential schools.
“The Four-Way Test is one of Rotary International’s Guiding Principles, serving as a foundation for our relationships with each other and the action we take in the world,” explained Wayne Guy, club president.
“When we started planning this year’s parade many months ago, our primary concern was COVID-19. But the tragic discovery of unmarked graves in recent weeks at former residential schools in B.C. and Saskatchewan has changed the meaning of July 1 this year for many.”