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Reconciliation walk expected to attract thousands

Inaugural Reconciliation Expo will include murals, lacrosse lessons, art installations and more
Truth and Reconciliation Walk
2013’s Truth and Reconciliation Walk attracted roughly 70,000 participants despite the pouring rain that day. Photo Rebecca Blissett

Tens of thousands of attendees are expected to convene downtown Sunday, Sept. 24 in what could be the largest reconciliation event in provincial, if not Canadian, history.

The Walk for Reconciliation bookends three of the city’s marquee Canada150+ events, and runs from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The walk begins at the corner of Cambie and Georgia streets before participants make their way east across the Georgia Viaduct to Strathcona Park for the first-ever Reconciliation Expo. That event will include musicians, speakers and cultural activities tied to the theme of reconciliation.

Both the walk and the expo are intended to honour the lives taken, the survivors and those impacted by the residential school system.

“This is an issue that’s resonating with individuals — it’s families, people with children,” said Ginger Gosnell-Myers, the city’s manager of aboriginal relations. “We see politicians from all levels of government responding that reconciliation is important, but then we’ve also seen a really quick uptake of citizens saying, ‘Yes, this is important and we’re going to show up in record numbers.’”

A similar event in 2013 called the Truth and Reconciliation Walk attracted roughly 70,000 participants despite the pouring rain that day. Gosnell-Myers, who participated in the 2013 walk, expects a minimum of 30,000 attendees this weekend depending on the weather.

“It was incredible,” she recalled. “It was pouring rain. Attrition is a real thing, so for 70,000 to show up, you can imagine how many people didn’t show up because of the weather.”

Sunday’s event represents a partnership between Reconciliation Canada, the federal government and the Vancouver Park Board. The walk itself will be preceded by welcoming speeches, blessings by First Nations elders and a presentation from Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, one of the founders of the Reconciliation Walk movement.

“We’ll have a wide variety, a very diverse group attending the walk,” said Charlene Seward, community engagement manager for Reconciliation Canada. “So there will be survivors and we will have health support workers on site in case anyone is triggered and needs a little bit of extra support. But it will also be an event for children to partake in.”

The featured events in the Reconciliation Expo cover a wide swath: lacrosse lessons, art installations, a communal weaving project, on-site mural painting and more.

Several road closures will be in effect throughout downtown and along the walking route. Temporary parking restrictions will be in place one hour prior to those road closures. Streets will re-open to vehicular traffic once the walkers have cleared the area and Vancouver Police Department deems it safe to do so.

The routes affected include:
7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.:

  • 100 to 500 West Georgia, from Beatty to Seymour
  • 700 to 600 Richards, Homer, Hamilton, Cambie and Beatty from Dunsmuir to Robson

8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.:  

  • Georgia and Cambie, east over the Georgia Viaduct to Prior/Venables, east to Strathcona Park at Campbell Avenue
  • Venables Street from Campbell Avenue to Clark Drive.

@JohnKurucz