Ontario Chamber of Commerce delegates sew up quilt blocks for residential school survivors
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual General Meeting and Convention this week in Timmins, Ont.
Around 100 delegates from throughout the province travelled to the city to take in some northern hospitality and set goals for the upcoming year.
One of the optional activities during the conference, held at Cedar Meadows Resort and Spa, was to create a square to be included in a quilt for a residential school survivor.
Founder of ‘Quilts for Survivors,’ Vanessa Genier was on hand with fabric, notions and sewing machines and taught interested delegates how to be part of a project that’s promoting truth and reconciliation.
“Once I have enough and I have several blocks now, I can probably make two tops, I'm going to start sewing them together and they'll be finished tops,” said Genier.
“Then I'll bring them to the studio and we'll pick them up and ship them off to a survivor.”
Ontario Chamber of Commerce officials said reconciliation with Indigenous peoples was one of its main agenda topics at this year’s gathering.
About 100 delegates from around the province travelled to Timmins, Ont., for its annual general meeting and convention at Cedar Meadows Resort and Spa. Quilts for Survivors founder Vanessa Genier (left) talks with Ontario Chamber of Commerce President Daniel Tisch (right) about her initiative. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)
Daniel Tisch, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer, told CTV News that the agenda for the northern Ontario meeting talks about some “pretty fundamental” things.
“We're talking about the development of the mining industry. We're talking about critical infrastructure and how we build better infrastructure to connect the, you know, minerals in the north to the manufacturing in the south of Ontario. We're talking about how to retrain, retain the brilliant talent that northern Ontario develops,” he said, on Friday.
“And – we're talking about reconciliation with Indigenous people, businesses, nations and communities. And those are probably the, I'd say, the four items that are highest in terms of the agenda that we have in the room today.”
The conference wraps up on April 27.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
4th Indian national arrested, charged with murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Homicide investigators in B.C. say murder charges have been laid against a fourth Indian national in connection to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara last year.
Feds 'committed to doing more,' but minister offers no timeline for Canadian Disability Benefit boost
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.
RCMP boss expresses desire for new law to deal with threats against politicians
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme says he wants the government to look at drafting a new law that would make it easier for police to pursue charges against people who threaten elected officials.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Balancing act: Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO juggles Arctic airline challenges
With carriers' flight volumes above the 60th parallel hovering below pre-pandemic levels, Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO now bears the task of balancing those financial and logistical challenges with the needs of communities for which she feels a deep affinity.
Sherpa guide Kami Rita scales Mount Everest for 29th time, extending his own record again
One of greatest climbing guides on Mount Everest has scaled the world's highest peak for the 29th time, extending his own record for most times to the summit, expedition organizers said Sunday.
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
In progressive Argentina, the 2SLGBTQ+ community says President Milei has turned back the clock
Past left-leaning presidents who enacted some of the most socially liberal policies on the continent have given way to a self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" whose fiery appraisals of social justice and efforts to dismantle diversity and equity programs have made him into a global far-right icon.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.