First time flag-raising by City of Greater Sudbury to honour residential school survivors

When the residential school survivors' flag was raised at Tom Davies Square in downtown Sudbury earlier Thursday, it gave Christian Naponse chills.

"To see that flag being raised here is an important event for me and I think a lot of people here," said Naponse, who was recently hired to be the city's first Indigenous relations specialist.

When she began her role in 2023, Naponse noticed the city did not have a survivors' flag or plans to raise a flag to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

"So I purchased a flag and suggested we do this flag raising as an inaugural event so that we can acknowledge the city's role in reconciliation," she said.

Several Greater Sudbury council members attended the event, along with their peers from neighbouring Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation.

The gimaa (chief) of that community, Craig Nootchtai, told attendees that young people need events like this as they deal with the legacy of residential schools and work to build a better future.

For his part, Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre spoke of the importance of coming together as one community.

"I've always said to [Nootchtai]: 'Your success is our success and our success is your success.' We're doing this together," he said.

What reconciliation looks like at the municipal level

Lefebvre said thatbeyond raising the flag, the city tries to support reconciliation by collaborating with neighbouring First Nations on infrastructure projects and providing social services.

He saideconomic reconciliation is a big part of it, too, pointingto Atikameksheng Anishnawbekand Wahnapitae's lead in a downstream battery materials processing facility project with Wyloo Metals.

"They were at the table from the beginning not in the middle, not in the end, not as an afterthought," said Lefebvre.

All say more education on the calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission isneeded, and a flag raising is one example of how people can come together to remember the past.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on Sept. 30, but the City of Greater Sudbury marked it Thursday because of scheduling issues, said Naponse.