Regina residents wear red, white and orange to celebrate Canada Day

People from all different backgrounds celebrated what Canada means to them in Regina's Wascana Park Friday.

Hundreds of people took in live music, entertainment and plenty of poutine and snow cones to mark Canada Day.

Holly Paluck, a Regina Multicultural Council board member, said she was extremely happy to see all the families marking the occasion.

"We are just so excited to be out at a public event and connecting with other people," Paluck said.

There was a lot of red, white and orange in the crowds, as many people chose to wear orange to remember and honour victims, survivors and families of Indigenous people forced to attend residential schools.

Carol LaFayette-Boyd, volunteer executive director of the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum, said that Indigenous people and children weigh heavily on her mind.

"We're still remembering all of the things that they're experiencing and especially the lost young women," she said. "We remember them today also."

LaFayette-Boyd had a booth set up at the "Cultural Village" on Wascana Lake, where many creative groups including German dancers and young people from Somalia marked Canada Day.

And she reflected on how her own family came to Canada from Iowa in 1906 and from Oklahoma in 1910.

"We settled on land that really wasn't ours. And we thank the Indigenous people for allowing us to be here. So I'm grateful for Canada because my family left the United States to come have a better life here."

Kien Nguyen's family came from Vietnam 10 years ago and he said he's grateful for the health care, education and kindness Canadians have shown his family.

"We would like to thank your Canadian government" for the opportunity to live here, said Nguyen, who was all smiles in a Canada hat.

And Nguyen's young son Kenny said he loves Canada because "it's his favourite."

A respectful conversation

Saskatchewan Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Laura Ross helped serve pancakes in the park, and noted that new Canadians were enjoying the celebration.

"It's absolutely wonderful," she said. "As a minister responsible for culture, it really is. It's absolutely incredible. They're really celebrating and [we're] just making sure that they feel that they've come to probably the best country in the world."

She also said there were "respectful conversations" this year.

"It was wonderful to see the people wearing the orange shirts," she said. It's important that people understand Indigenous issues "so we can now heal and move forward."

Dani Bauche was hesitant to bring her children to the Canada Day festivities, but ultimately they all decided to show up in their orange shirts.

"I had a conversation with my kids this morning about the importance of taking a minute to recognize that the Canadian government still has a lot of work to do in terms of Truth and Reconciliation," Bauche said.

"And conversations like what has happened to Indigenous people in this province and all of the unmarked graves that we have found in the last couple of years in this country ... the conversation has kind of died down a little bit."

Bauche said she is teaching her children that it is important to remind the government that people have not forgotten and still want action.

Attendance figures for the day were not available at press time. More people are expected to mark the occasion with fireworks in the park at around 10.30 p.m. CST.