For this year anyway, and here are a few photos to mark the event

It was a rainy day but that didn’t stop almost 150 people from coming out and doing a 5k walk with the group from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill via the Province of Quebec….. walking in 6 provinces makes this the most extensive of the walks to date.

When the walkers got to the Eternal Flame in front of the Parliament buildings there were more people waiting there to welcome them…. some were welcomed home, and some of them to the City of Ottawa.

After a quick welcome the walkers and their support team gathered in a circle at the Eternal Flame to offer thanks to their individual Higher Powers for a journey safely completed.

– and then it was time for celebrating, and lots of hugging, and photo taking, and a few interviews…. and Charlotte hung on to the Nunavut flag she started the day with through it all.

– and then it was time to get out of the rain, one of the Members of Parliament had made arrangements for the group to use a room in the Senate wing of the Parliament buildings for a press conference, the room turned out to be too small :-)

Being in a building where politicians spend their time nobody was surprised when a Senator from Quebec (that’s important, remember where he’s from) stopped by to speak a few words, and some of those words surprised us all because he said that it was arrogant (yup, that’s the word he used) for the French and the English to argue about how they founded a nation because when they arrived in this land the founders were already here. Quite a statement for a Senator to come out with isn’t it? Needless to say it was met with a solid round of applause.

He’s the guy in the black suit speaking so passionately about how this generation of aboriginal people can and will effect change and can and will make a difference.

After the official proceedings were finished the walkers, their support team, the family members who were able to be there, and a few close friends who were there were invited to lunch in another of the rooms in the wing - courtesy of the Federal Government of Canada.

All-in-all it was a happy, and very emotional, day that could not have been made possible without the help and support of a whole lot of people along the way, some of them are good folks that we see here on Stageleft - Peter, Treehugger, Vinny, Mike, Balbulican… thanks!! You helped make a difference