Image Credit: Shutterstock
June 03, 2021 - 1:00 PM
What started as a single Facebook post has grown into three convoys and roughly 600 drivers that will show support for Indigenous peoples across Canada this weekend.
West Kelowna trucker Mike Otto said the idea came to him to have a semi-truck convoy head from Kelowna to Kamloops this Saturday as the news of the 215 children found buried at the former Kamloops Residential School site struck a chord with him.
“Honestly it’s wrong and for years the Indigenous people didn’t have a voice… There needs to be more accountability. The red tape needs to be cut. This isn’t going away at all,” he said. He has close friends who are Indigenous, one of whom will lead a drum ceremony following the convoy, Saturday, June 5.
School buses, emergency vehicles and more will be participating in one of three separate convoys, from Merritt, Williams Lake and Kelowna. They will converge at the former Kamloops Residential School site.
“This all started Monday morning and I didn’t think it would catch on but clearly it did and I’m just amazed and there’s a heartfelt thank you to everyone that is helping, that is contributing,” Otto said.
On Saturday morning, the Kelowna convoy will meet at 8 a.m. at the Chevron cardlock, at the Merritt Denny’s at 9:30 a.m. at the Denny’s, and at the Esso Cardlock in 150 Mile House at 7:30 a.m.
“It’s about time they are treated respectfully and with dignity,” Otto said.
COVID-19 safety rules will be in place at the ceremony in Kamloops, he said.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021