Montreal to lower flags after remains of 215 children found at B.C. residential school site

The federal government and other cities have indicated they will do the same.

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Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced on Sunday that the city’s flags would be lowered to half mast after the remains of 215 children were found at the site of a former residential school in British Columbia.

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said in a news release on Thursday that the remains were confirmed last weekend with the help of a ground-penetrating radar specialist.

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In a tweet, the mayor added that a declaration of support for the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation would be adopted at the next city council meeting.

The federal government and other Canadian cities have also announced that their flags will be lowered to honour the 215 deceased children.

“To honour the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloops residential school and all Indigenous children who never made it home, the survivors and their families, I have asked that the Peace Tower flag and flags on all federal buildings be flown at half-mast,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Sunday.

The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line, which was set up to support survivors of Canada’s residential schools and their families, can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

With files from the Canadian Press.