OTTAWA —
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent part of Canada’s first national day for Truth and Reconciliation flying to Tofino, B.C., where he joined his family.
His office says Trudeau also spent hours on the phone during the day speaking with survivors of residential schools across the country.
The prime minister’s itinerary for the day initially said he was in private meetings in Ottawa.
But spokeswoman Ann-Clara Vaillancourt later confirmed that Trudeau had in fact flown to British Columbia to be with his family for a few days.
She pointed out that he had participated in a ceremony on Parliament Hill on Wednesday night, the eve of Canada’s inaugural Truth and Reconciliation Day.
Trudeau’s government created the day to commemorate the estimated 150,000 Indigenous children forced to attend the church-run residential schools, where many suffered physical and sexual abuse, malnutrition and neglect and more than 4,000 are believed to have died.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2021.
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