Statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth overturned in Canada

A crowd chanted "no pride for genocide" before dropping statues of monarchs.

The action took place Thursday on Canada Day, when celebrations traditionally take place across the country.

However, many cities canceled events this year as the Aboriginal children scandal brought Canadians face to face with their colonial history. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the day would be "a moment of reflection."

Nearly 1,000 unmarked graves have been found in former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, which were primarily run by the Catholic Church and funded by the government.

For 165 years and as recently as 1996, schools forcibly separated indigenous children from their families, subjecting them to malnutrition and physical and sexual abuse in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called "cultural genocide" in 2015.

In Winnipeg, a crowd cheered as the statue of Queen Victoria fell in front of the Manitoba legislature. Protesters, many dressed in orange, also kicked the overturned statue and danced around it. The plinth and statue have been smeared with marks. of hands in red paint.

A nearby statue of Queen Elizabeth was also toppled. She is Canada's current head of state, while Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901 when Canada was part of the British Empire.

Protests for indigenous children also took place Thursday in Toronto, Canada's financial hub, while a #CancelCanadaDay march in the capital Ottawa drew thousands in support of the victims and survivors of the residential school system.

Vigils and rallies were held in other parts of the country. Many participants wore orange clothing, which became the symbol of the movement.

In his Canada Day message, Trudeau said the findings of children's remains in old schools "rightly made us think about the historical failures of our country." Injustices still exist for indigenous peoples and many others in Canada, he said.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government condemns any degradation of the queen's statues.

"Our hearts go out to Canada's indigenous community following these tragic discoveries, and we are following these issues closely and continue to engage with the Canadian government on indigenous issues," he said.

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