Media Advisory - Powerful events mark close of TRC in Ottawa

TORONTO, May 26, 2015 /CNW/ - KAIROS Canada invites everyone to be part of a series of powerful events leading up to and complementing the close of the historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). KAIROS' Time for Reconciliation intergenerational gathering will feature leading thinkers on Indigenous rights and interactive workshops on May 29, May 30 and June 1 at Carleton University and Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa.

On June 1 at 5:30 p.m. on Parliament Hill, KAIROS will participate in a highly visual mass Blanket Exercise, organized by the Assembly of Seven Generations. KAIROS is also an organizer of the Honouring Memories, Planting Dreams Ceremony where 500 children will join residential school survivors in planting hearts in a Heart Garden at Rideau Hall at noon on June 3 after the ceremonial close of the TRC.

Click here for the full program schedule.

KAIROS' Time for Reconciliation
WHAT	Intergenerational gathering that includes a plenary session on the theme: Recognition and Reconciliation
WHEN	Friday, May 29, 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
	Media interviews with speakers: 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
WHERE	Carleton University, Residence Lounge. Map.
WHO	Jennifer Henry, Executive Director, KAIROS Canada
	Gabrielle Fayant, moderator
	Click here for biographies of these speakers:
	Mike Cachagee, Former President, National Residential Schools Survivor Society
	Marie Wilson, Commissioner, TRC
	Jah'Kota, Artist, Musician, Founder Un1ty Entertainment
WHAT	Intergenerational gathering that includes a plenary session and interactive workshops on the theme: Decolonization.
WHEN	Saturday, May 30; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
	Media interviews with speakers: 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. in the Residence Lounge at Carleton University
WHERE	Carleton University, Residence Lounge (plenary session) and St. Patrick Building (workshops). Map.
WHO	Jennifer Henry, Executive Director, KAIROS Canada
	Pam Peters-Pries, moderator
	Click here for biographies of these speakers:
	Ellen Gabriel, Turtle Clan, Kanien'kehá:ka Nation from Kanehsatà:ke, Human Rights Activist
	Mark Macdonald, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop
	Erica Violet Lee, Nehiyaw (Plains Cree), 2013 Iris Marion Young Diversity Scholar
WHAT	Intergenerational gathering that includes a plenary session and interactive workshops on the theme: Honouring Indigenous Rights.
WHEN	Monday, June 1; 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
	Media interviews with speakers: 8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
WHERE	Christ Church Cathedral, 439 Queen Street, Ottawa.
WHO	Jennifer Henry, Executive Director, KAIROS Canada
	Jim Hodgson, moderator
	Click here for biographies of these speakers:
	Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society
	Ana Guadalupe Matzir Miculax, Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala, KAIROS partner CEIBA
	Widia Lariviere, Youth Coordinator, Quebec Native Women
Mass Blanket Exercise at Parliament Hill
WHAT	Mass Blanket Exercise – visual interactive history lesson told from the point of view of Indigenous peoples in Canada. This will be organized by the Assembly of Seven Generations. The Blanket Exercise was developed in 1997 by the ecumenical Aboriginal Rights Coalition, one of the coalitions that became part of KAIROS in 2001. It is KAIROS' most popular teaching tool and has been led hundreds of time with thousands of people in churches, schools and community centres from coast-to-coast. To see the Blanket Exercise in action, watch this short video.
WHEN	Monday, June 1; 5:30 p.m.
	Media interviews with speakers: 5:00 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE	Parliament Hill
WHO	Jennifer Henry, Executive Director, KAIROS Canada
	Ed Bianchi, Programs Manager, KAIROS Canada
	Gabrielle Fayant,Co-founder,Assembly of Seven Generations
Heart Garden: Honouring Memories, Planting Dreams Ceremony
WHAT	Honouring Memories, Planting Dreams Ceremony.As a tribute to all students of the Indian Residential Schools and their families, 500 children from the Ottawa-Gatineau area will join residential school survivors in creating a Heart Garden at Rideau Hall, the Governor General's residence, by planting hearts with messages of reconciliation from across Canada. Each child will carry two hearts attached to wooden gardening stakes. They will plant one heart in a Heart Garden at Rideau Hall and they will share the other with an adult attending the formal closing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Following a brief ceremony, a rendition of 'Sing' by the Ottawa Catholic School Board Children's Choir, and the planting of the hearts, the children will lead a procession away from Rideau Hall to symbolize that children will lead us towards a future of reconciliation. This is a joint initiative with KAIROS, the TRC, Project of Heart, and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. Similar Heart Garden ceremonies are planned at churches and in communities across the country from May 31 to June 3.
WHEN	Wednesday, June 3; noon to 1:30 pm
	Media interviews with speakers: 11:15 to noon
WHERE	Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa
WHO	Jennifer Henry, Executive Director, KAIROS Canada
	Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.
	Charlene Bearhead, National Coordinator, Project of Heart
	Marie Wilson, TRC Commissioner

For more details visit:kairoscanada.org/events/time4reconciliation/hearts-gardens                       

About KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
KAIROS is a faith-based social justice organization of eleven Canadian churches and religious organizations. It focuses on Indigenous rights, international human rights and ecological justice. We deliberate on issues of common concern, advocate for social change and join with people of faith and goodwill in action for social transformation. To learn more, visit kairoscanada.org.

SOURCE KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

For further information: Media Contact: Cheryl McNamara, Media Coordinator, 877-403-8933 x 246, 416-875-0097 (mobile), [e-mail]; Ed Bianchi, Programs Manager, 613-235-9956, 613-799-1995 (mobile), [e-mail]