Port Hawkesbury Activist Sparks Province-Wide Flag-Lowering

WARNING: The following story contains details that may be disturbing to those who have connections to Canada's residential school system, and to the public in general.

PORT HAWKESBURY - When he learned that the remains of 215 children had been found at the former site of the Kamloops residential school building, Bryson Sylliboy knew that he couldn't sit silently.

Originally from Shubenacadie and now living in Port Hawkesbury, Sylliboy, 40, had a first-hand view of the damage that the residential school system had caused to his own family. His mother and several aunts and uncles attended the Shubenacadie residential school, while Sylliboy himself was a former student at the so-called "Indian Day Schools" that persisted in the Maritimes well into the final years of Canada's residential school system, whose last facility closed in 1996. 

In the hours following the revelation of the Kamloops remains, Syllliboy issued a call for municipal leaders across Nova Scotia to lower the flags outside of their main municipal offices for 215 hours - roughly nine straight days - in recognition of this disturbing discovery. 

He quickly found an ally in Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, who had also received a call from We'koqma'q First Nation Chief Annie Bernard-Daisley inquiring about contact names for municipal offices around Nova Scotia. As a result, the mayor and Chief Bernard-Daisley worked together to reach out to municipal leaders and Mi'kmaq chiefs across Nova Scotia, to join forces on a province-wide flag-lowering campaign.

Speaking shortly after the Canadian and Nova Scotian flags were brought down to half-mast in front of the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on May 31 at 2:15 p.m., Chisholm-Beaton said she was still "sick to her stomach" about the news from Kamloops and vowed to keep working with Mi'kmaq leaders to recognize the role of indigenous leaders in all aspects of Atlantic Canadian life. 

As an example, Chisholm-Beaton said she is still hoping to have the word Una'ma'ki - the Mi'kmaq name for Cape Breton Island - affixed to the "Welcome To Cape Breton" signage on the Canso Canal swing bridge. which is found at the Port Hastings side of the Canso Causeway.