Winnipeg churches invited to Walk Together to reconciliation

Organizers are inviting Winnipeg churches to an evening of special speakers Tuesday night as an act of reconciliation.

One of the organizers, James Thunder, says the event is in response to the Senate's delay in passing Bill C-262. Bill C-262 is an act asking "… the Government of Canada to take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)." It went to committee in the Senate last week after months of delay.

Thunder says that Wiiji Bimosendiwin ("Walking Together") was created by Winnipeg pastor Marty McLean and other First Nations leaders as a way to "join the countless others from across the country to call upon the senators to bring it to the study stage at least." Now that the bill has finally moved to committee Thunder says they "still want to send a clear message to senators that we want cooperation in passing this bill."

The event will feature a number of Indigenous speakers, including Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew. Thunder says, though, it is a non-partisan event meant to bring the community together as part of the truth and reconciliation process.

"We've invited Wab Kinew, Leah Gazan, and Ryan Beardy to come speak on the important role that Bill C-262 has on reconciliation. We are opening the doors for the church to come support this bill as an act of reconciliation," Thunder says.

The event will take place Tuesday, May 21, at 621 Oxford St., starting at 7 p.m.