Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Kamloops on Monday as a guest guest at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, as the First Nation commemorated the first anniversary of the confirmation of 215 unmarked graves on the site of a former residential school.
Trudeau received a mixed reception when he arrived and made his way through the large crowd as he was flanked by several members of his security detail.
There were many supporters who cordially greeted the Prime Minister and asked him to take selfies with him.
But he was also closely followed by a bustling crowd of singers and drummers who wanted to get their own message across.
“Canada is all Indian land!” they sang as they played the drums loudly. “RCMP has no jurisdiction!”
Trudeau mainly ignored the group that also sang “We Don’t Need Your Constitution!”
But in brief comments from the podium, the prime minister spoke directly to those singing the protest songs about the stolen indigenous lands, telling them he understood his anger as he tried to redirect the focus of the event towards the missing children.
“I’m listening to you. It’s about remembering those we lost. It’s about getting together and reflecting on where we are, and especially where we all need to go together,” he said.
At a press conference later in the evening, CTV News asked Trudeau if he believed Canada existed on stolen indigenous lands and did not give a definitive answer.
“Canada is a country made up of Indigenous people who have been here for millennia, who welcomed settlers in some cases and were invaded by settlers in others,” he said. “But we are a country that exists today with a commitment to always learn from the past and always do better.”
Trudeau’s answer to the question lasted more than 90 seconds, but his answer was ambiguous and it is still unclear whether he believes that First Nations had traditional territories that they had occupied for thousands of years stolen.
“There is no doubt that we can go back in time and see all the terrible things that happened … The history of Canada is the story of people coming together to build a better future for themselves and their children. than the previous generation could have imagined, ”he concluded.