We are happy that you are here. Welcome to Reimagine Canada (Day), a Covid-19 friendly, self-guided tour that takes you on a journey around Ottawa, which is on the unceded, unsurrendered, ancestral lands of the Algonquin Nation. You can do the tour by bike, on foot, by car, or any other way you get around, or virtually from your own home!
You can do the tour from anywhere across Canada, at anytime of the year.
Shortly after the remains of 215 Children were found at the former Residential School in Kamloops, BC, a group of us came together in grief and in action. We thought about what we might do as a response to the ongoing trauma, injustices, and colonial disruption of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples perpetrated by Canada.
On June 24, Cowessess First Nation announced that they had found 751 unmarked gravesites. Chief Cadmus Delorme said, "We all must put down our ignorance and accidental racism, of not addressing the truth, that this country had with Indigenous people. We are not asking for pity, but we are asking for understanding.”
We are inspired by the words of Murray Sinclair, who was the Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. He once said:
"Education is what got us into this, and education is what will get us out."
This (virtual) tour was created to take you on a journey of learning accurate narratives and unlearning false ones you may have been taught throughout your life. On this tour, you will hear stories about places, people, parks, and buildings that might be new to you. Further, you will learn about actions Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples are undertaking together to reimagine Canada, and how you are implicated in the past, the present, and the future by living here and calling this place home. You will be asked to think about what it means to be a good visitor and a good relation.