Montreal’s Native Women’s Shelter hosts annual Every Child Matters march
Posted September 29, 2026 1:11 pm.
Last Updated September 30, 2026 1:37 pm.
The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal is hosting the Every Child Matters March to mark the National Truth and Reconciliation Day Wednesday.
The annual event honours children taken forcibly into the residential school system, the survivors and families.
Organizers say this year’s event carried a “renewed sense of urgency and purpose” as the final judgement by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal was also released Wednesday following public hearings held in May in Montreal.
The tribunal ruled that Canada is in violation of international law for failing to investigate and prosecute crimes against Indigenous people.
The human rights panel said Canada was also in “a deliberate state of contempt” for what it calls a failure to sign and enforce international human rights doctrines on genocide, enforced disappearances and apartheid.
The PPT also released several recommendations for governments at all levels to investigate and maintain records of survivors and victims of residential schools, MMIWG as well as reforms to child welfare systems and funding for improving living conditions in consultation with Indigenous communities.
“After widespread, systematic and most serious violations of human rights, States have the duty to restore and guarantee the fundamental rights of the victims,” the judges wrote. “This includes the obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators, and to provide truth, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence.”
The march began at the Westmount Park around 1 p.m. and will end at Cabot Square.
Several speakers and performers are expected to participate in the event, including Ellen Gabriel, Kevin Deer, The Manitou Singers, Henriette McKenzie, Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, Karen Lajoie Petiquay, Alex McComber, Barbara Diabo, Leonard Sumner.
