Sixties Scoop rally takes to Toronto streets

The sound of the drum echoed through the downtown core of Toronto on Oct. 27. It was the day before an appeal of the class action certification of Brown and Commanda vs. Canada would be heard before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Native Child and Family Services hosted an information session about the case, which has the potential to impact 16,000 Aboriginal people in Ontario that were directly or indirectly harmed by what is known as the Sixties Scoop.
The scoop involved social services removing Indian children from their families and placing them in care or up for adoption with non-Native families, resulting in a loss of culture, language and identity. Many of those children, as adults, are still struggling to reconnect to their families and communities.

Marcia Brown and Robert Commanda began an effort in 2009 to bring a class action lawsuit against Canada to hold the country accountable for the ongoing, devastating toll its actions had on Aboriginal families.
Brown is of Beaverhouse First Nation and Commanda is of Dokis First Nation.

Jeffrey Wilson is the legal counsel representing Brown and Commanda in their battle. The class action was certified in May 2010. But the attorney general obtained permission to appeal the certification order. That appeal was heard on Oct. 28.

Registered with the class action are Aboriginal people who were placed for adoption or in foster care with non-Aboriginal families in Ontario between Dec. 1, 1965 and Dec. 31, 1984.

A rally was also held to bring public awareness to the issue. About 100 or so supporters gathered for an afternoon march along the streets of downtown Toronto.
They walked west to Bay Street, then followed it south to Dundas Street, where the growing crowd stopped for drumming and singing, interrupting traffic flow from all directions.

The marchers moved south to Queen Street to the front of old City Hall and the heart of the Financial District accompanied by police walking beside their bicycles.
As the drum beat faster, more people joined the spectators to watch the procession. Marchers carried signs, posters and flags.

The march went along Queen Street, stopped at Yonge Street and then Church Street, then headed north on Jarvis and all the way up to Gerrard and Allan Garden.
Marchers chanted: “Who needs our children?” and then replied with “We do.”

The tired and anxious crowd heard from John Fox, American Indian Movement Ontario Representative and child welfare survivor who was the leader of the day’s rally.

“It’s not about us anymore,” he told Birchbark. “It’s about the survival of our next generation of children.”

Photo caption: A rally and march was held in Toronto Oct. 27 to bring awareness to issues around the Sixties Scoop.

ALL PHOTOS: By Rob Lackie