Why Hintonburg's Merry Dairy won't be scooping ice cream this Canada Day

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.

A local business is taking steps to support Indigenous communities in the wake of the discovery of the remains of 215 children in unmarked graves at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

And its decision is garnering support from some within those communities.

The Merry Dairy, a popular ice cream shop in Ottawa's Hintonburg neighbourhood, says it won't open on Canada Day as a gesture of reconciliation.

"We want to take a pause. [It's] an opportunity to reflect on what we are celebrating," said owner Marlene Haley.

In past years, the shop would be a popular destination on July 1, and would dispatch its trucks across Ottawa.

"It's a great family day," said Haley.

"But this year it feels different. This year it is different. For many, it's been different for a long time," reads a letter signed by the Merry Dairy team and published on social media.

According to Haley, all 22 employees are in agreement with the decision to close July 1.

"I'm really hoping that when children say, 'Why can't I get an ice cream on Canada Day?' families might use that opportunity to talk about why," said Haley in an interview on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning. "As a business that draws families to come and have ice cream, how can we help in this healing process?"

Haley said she wishes she'd known more about the legacy of Canada's residential school system when she was growing up.

"I grew up near the Six Nations community and there was a residential school in Brantford. I remember having conversations with my mother and her knowing of children that had run away, but we didn't know the enormity of it."

Haley said she's been talking with her own 18-year-old daughter about residential schools and "what our history is as a country." 

Haley said customers have also reached out to support the decision, saying it's causing them to reflect, too. 

Haley isn't calling on other businesses to join her, though she says some have indicated that they might. 

"I didn't want to just have a hashtag. It has to have an impact," she said.

The decision is also gaining support from some local Indigenous groups.

Rose LeMay is Tlingit and the CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group. Both her parents were forced to attend residential school. She said she appreciates the shop's decision. 

"The company made a decision with financial implications," LeMay wrote in an email. "This is a meaningful and impactful way that businesses can show leadership."

"This is an amazing starting point and a way to send a loud message," Sunshine Tenasco, an Anishinaabe from Kitigan Zibi and founder of the entrepreneurial engine Powwow Pitch, wrote in an email. "Let's hope that ALL Canadian businesses follow suit."

Tenasco said she hopes the movement to reframe Canada Day gains momentum.

"This year may we all mourn together and not celebrate the genocide of the first people who occupied Turtle Island before it was colonized and renamed Canada."

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.