Walk of Sorrow returns to the north
The ‘Walk of Sorrow’ is passing through the north once again, to continue raising awareness of the lasting impacts of the residential school system and call for action.
Patricia Ballantyne is picking up where she left off last year and wanted to stop at communities she visited previously, to promote healing.
Last year's inaugural ‘Walk of Sorrow’ brought Patricia Ballantyne and her supporters from Saskatchewan to Ottawa. This time she wants to meet even more survivors while supporting those she has met along the way.
“Reminding them that we are still here and we're never going away, until our time has come,” said Ballantyne.
She says these ceremonies encourage ongoing healing and ensure that the conversation stays alive.
Seeing how the papal visit caused people's trauma to resurfaced, Ballantyne said she realized she had to keep walking.
"There's so much grief out there that still needs to be talked about and so much anger that still needs to be worked on."
She shared her experience attending a residential school from age four to 14 and invited others to join.
In Timmins Friday, a local elder said the opening prayer and says the ceremony was comforting.
"I heard myself, almost the same story that I went through and these stories that we hear from each other, you know, it's empowering us. It's helping us to find the courage to move forward and know that life, life is good," said Annie Metatawabin, another residential school survivor.
Ballantyne's return to Timmins also gave people who didn't feel comfortable attending last year a chance to be among others.
"To be here and know that there's other people going through the same thing. I think last year I isolated but this year, I'm feeling very connected to community and healing in a different way. It's just a reminder that there's always people around us, we're always connected, so i'm very grateful and honoured to be here," said Kristin Murray, Timmins’ deputy-mayor, at the event.
This is why Ballantyne says she wants to keep coming back to these communities as she journeys across Canada.
"The healing process doesn't take a month, a summer, it takes a lifetime."
After walking to Halifax, she wants to walk to British Columbia next year and then northern Canada the year after.
Ballantyne says the ‘Walk of Sorrow’ is helping her heal and hopes it's allowing other survivors to either begin or push forward on their paths.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.