The Town of Georgina, in partnership with the Chippewas of Georgina Island, held the official ribbon cutting of the Every Child Matters crosswalk today. It is located in front of the Island View Business Centre/Georgina Island Ferry dock.
“This is the first crosswalk in Georgina honouring residential school victims and survivors. I am proud our community has been a leader in establishing it,” said Mayor Margaret Quirk. “Our partnership with the Chippewas of Georgina Island is important to us. They are our close neighbours and friends, and I thank them for their support and collaboration with this project.”
The crosswalk is designed to bring awareness that all children matter and to bring awareness to the adult survivors who are continuing to heal from the trauma of residential schools. The unique design of the crosswalk has been inquired about from municipalities from southern Ontario to the Yukon.
Every Child Matters is the Orange Shirt Day slogan. In 2013, Sept. 30 was declared Orange Shirt Day. It is a day to acknowledge the harm and trauma caused by the residential school system and remind eeryone of the impact that is still felt to this day. The orange shirt was chosen to represent this day as it references a real orange shirt that was taken from residential school survivor, Phyllis (Jack) Webstad. To learn more, visit orangeshirtday.org.
For more information, visit georgina.ca/TruthandReconciliation.