Displaying the Survivor's Flag at St Mary's

At our July Parish Council meeting, St Mary's council voted in support of flying a variety of flags at various times of the year, to remind ourselves and our community of the values and commitments that form us, as a community of faith. This, of course, includes the flying of Canada's national flag, but it also includes flying other flags as appropriate to the season.

Today we raised the Survivor's Flag. The Survivors’ Flag is an expression of remembrance, meant to honour residential school Survivors and all the lives and communities impacted by the residential school system in Canada. Each element depicted on the flag was carefully selected by Survivors from across Canada, who were consulted in the flag’s creation. It is available through the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg.

Today, Archbishop Shane Parker, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, with strong support from the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, extended the invitation to all parishes in the ACC to display the Survivor's Flag. In so doing, we announce that our parish is a place of safety, healing, understanding and reconciliation - and we commit to being held accountable to this claim.