October 7, 2021 Vol. 21, No. 39
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Moving Ceremony Commemorates National Day Of Truth & Reconciliation In North Frontenac By Craig Bakay hen Phyllis Webstad was six years old, she was taken from her family in British Columbia and placed in a residential school, where they took away an orange shirt she was wearing. The shirt had been a gift from her grandmother. Now, almost 50 years later, the orange shirt has become a symbol for the loss of indigenous identity caused by those residential schools. “Today is a day of growth,” said Shabot Obaadjiwan Chief Doreen Davis told the crowd gathered at the North Frontenac municipal office to commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation before she went on to recount Webstad’s story and why the orange shirt is so important. “We carry this on today (and) it’s important we don’t let this go. “It’s a day of education, who we are, who our ancestors were and how they got us to where we are together.” Before joining Mayor Ron Higgins to raise the orange Every Child Matters Flag, Davis presented Higgins with a carved plaque, designed by Sharbot Lake artist Donna Larocque, that shows the 10 Algonquin communities and the area representing more than 10,000 people. The plaque will be displayed inside the municipal offices. “Ron and I have been on a journey together for quite awhile now,” she said. “Ron has extended nothing but goodwill to me.” For his part, Higgins said that one of his first missions
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after becoming mayor was to meet Chief Doreen, repairing damaged trust by making apologies and establishing a new and respectful relationship. “First, I want to personally thank Chief Davis for attending our even today,” Higgins said. “As she mentioned, she had many invites to attend ceremonies today and chose our invitation based on our sincere and meaningful relationship over the years. “This is not just a ‘tick off my to do list activity.’ Today we recognize the Truth, both here and across Canada, tomorrow we begin Reconciliation in earnest — both here and across Canada.” Higgins said he has the 100s of pages in the Truth and Reconciliation report and issued a public apology to “our Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations Peoples” and to all First Nation, Metis and Inuit Peoples. “We are sorry about the atrocities that took place by our ancestors and as descendants we will strive to take the next step in reconciliation. “Whether one is First Nations, Inuit, Metis, a descendent of European settlers, a member of a minority group that suffered historical discrimination in Canada, or a new Canadian, we all inherit both the beliefs and obligations of Canada. “We are all Treaty people who share responsibility for taking action on reconciliation. “Today we recognize and acknowledge the truth and commit to a sincere path to reconciliation.” ■
Photo left: Shabot Obaadjiwan Chief Doreen Davis and North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins jointly raise the orange Every Child Matters Flag at the municipal office in Plevna during a ceremony Sept. 30. “It will fly alone today and tomorrow we shall raise the Township Flag with this flag at half mast,” said Higgins. “It shall fly at half mast until every child that is anonymously buried is brought home.” Photo/Craig Bakay
Cumpson Seeks Provincial NDP Nomination in LFK By Jeff Green rew Cumpson is seeking the NDP nomination for MPP in the next Ontario provincial election, which is scheduled to take place next June. Cumpson is the first candidate to have been vetted and approved by the Ontario New Democrats in the riding. He told the News this week that there is at least one other candidate who has applied to the NDP for approval to run. The candidate selection meeting will likely take place in November via Zoom, and Cumpson is focusing his efforts on signing up members. Although he now lives just outside the riding, in between Westbrook and Odessa, most of his family and friends live in Frontenac County, and his personal story is familiar to many in the riding. After graduating from Sydenham High School, he attended Guelph University where he was taking a degree in hospitality. In the spring of 2011, he participated in a humanitarian trip to Peru with some classmates. On the last day of the trip, May 10, the group were enjoying a beach excursion and he was body surfing when he was hit by a massive wave and swept onto the rocks. He does not remember what happened next, but friends who saved his life have told him that he said “spinal injury” when they rescued him. He ended up in the ICU at what was then Kingston General Hospital (KGH) for well over a year, and at St. Mary's of the Lake for three years after that. He is a quadriplegic and needs to use a ventilator at all times. If his recovery was not difficult enough, his mother Heather, who spent the first year of his stay at KGH by his side, died in July of
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Drew Cumpson is seeking the NDP nomination for MPP in the next Ontario provincial election, which is scheduled to take place next June.
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2013. Even while in hospital, recovering his ability to talk, he began organising fundraising events to help him fund various projects, first around surgery that would be needed, and later to help him arrange for his housing needs. He lives in an accessible house now, with his grandmother, who is 89, with a lot of support from his father Jim, and personal support workers. He completed his degree at Guelph and has been working as an accessibility consultant, after taking the Rick Hansen Accessibility certification course at George Brown College. He has been doing contract work for the Rick Hansen Foundation, and setting up his own consulting business. He has also been working as an advocate for accessibility and LGBTQ rights. Before COVID, he was working on a travel documentary, with the working title “Planes, Trains, and Wheelchairs”, but that has been put on hold because of COVID.“COVID has been very difficult for me. As someone who is already ventilated, I know that if I get COVID, I would probably not survive, so I was very much isolated for many months. My father brought groceries in for me and my grandmother, who is also vulnerable because of her age, and we had to make sure that the caregivers, who I depend on, have been very careful as well. It has not been an easy time.” He ended up in hospital a few times in the last year or so, and because he is ventilated he must be in the Intensive Care Unit whenever he is admitted to hospital. He was in hospital during the time when COVID cases had
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