An apology has been issued after a memorial honouring the young victims of the Kamloops Indian Residential School was removed from the steps of the British Columbia legislature just hours after it was set up.
A message on the B.C. legislature’s Twitter account says security officers “extinguished the candles and collected the mementos” Friday night after mourners left the front steps of the legislature in downtown Victoria.
The memorial was set up May 28, a day after the First Nation in Kamloops, B.C., announced it had located the remains of 215 children buried on the grounds of the former residential school.
The statement from the legislature says “compassion and sensitivity should have been exercised with the memorial items remaining in place.”
The memorial of candles and children’s shoes was replaced on Monday.
The statement says the items “will not be disturbed during this period of mourning.”
Members of the community of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Quebec march through the town on May 30, 2021, to commemorate the news that a mass gravesite of 215 Indigenous children were found at the Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia.PETER MCCABE/AFP/Getty Images
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Shoes line the edge of the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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Candles are lit during a vigil in Toronto.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
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People form a circle during a vigil in Toronto.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
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Kayla Sutherland dances a prayer during a vigil in Toronto.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
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A mother hugs her daughter during a vigil in Toronto.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
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Canada's national flag flies at half-mast at the British Columbia Legislature in Victoria.BC Legislative Assembly/Reuters
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Residential school survivor Betty Deer sits next to children's shoes, placed there as a tribute to all the victims of the residential school system outside St. Francis Xavier Church in Kahnawake, Quebec.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
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Lynn Karonhia-Beauvais and grandson Jamieson Kane put down tobacco as a tribute to all the victims of the residential school system as they walk next to children's shoes outside St. Francis Xavier Church in Kahnawake, Quebec.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
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People place 215 pairs of children's shoes on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
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A plaque is seen outside of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation in Kamloops, B.C..Andrew Snucins/The Canadian Press
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The main administrative building at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is seen in Kamloops, B.C., circa 1970.LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/Reuters
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Elder Junior Peter Paul speaks at a ceremony next to 215 pairs of children's shoes placed in remembrance of the bodies discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.John Morris/The Canadian Press
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A woman places children's shoes and a sign in front of the Sir John A. MacDonald statue in Charlottetown.John Morris/The Canadian Press
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Imogen Haworth, stopping by the memorial of shoes placed outside the Ontario Legislative Building in memory of the 215 children whose remains were found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C..Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
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A pair of children’s shoes with the numbers 215, written on them and representing the number of children whose remains were found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C..Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
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A woman walks past numbered hearts placed on the steps of the Sir John A. MacDonald statue in Kingston, Ontario.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
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Shoes and handwritten messages sit on the Centennial flame on Parliament Hill.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
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Flowers and cards are left outside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
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Kamloops Indian Residential School survivor Clayton Peters, 64, who was forced into the school for 10 years, sits on the lawn at the former school, in Kamloops, B.C., on Monday, May 31, 2021. Peters' parents and his brothers were also forced into the facility.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
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A woman places flowers on a tree covered with written messages outside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
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People stand in front of a memorial for the 215 children at the main entrance of The Mohawk Institute, a former residential school, in Brantford, Ontario.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
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Flowers, shoes, and moccasins sit on the steps of the main entrance of The Mohawk Institute, a former residential school in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
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A person hangs red kids dresses beside shoes outside the City Hall in Kingston, Ontario.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
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People hug during moment of silence to honour residential school victims in Kingston, Ontario.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
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Players, Fans, and media hold a moment of reflection to honour the memory of 215 Indigenous children prior to first period NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey action between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, in Toronto.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
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