Volunteers and students at First Nations University of Canada paint one of the crosswalks at 13th Street and Central Avenue orange in advance of the Day of Truth and Reconciliation. (Rob Mahon/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Crosswalk Painted Orange

First Nations University paints downtown crosswalk orange

Sep 27, 2021 | 4:46 PM

If you’re walking through downtown Prince Albert in the near future, you might notice one set of crosswalks standing out from the rest. The crosswalks at the intersection of 13^th Street and Central Avenue got a brand-new paint job in honour of the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Volunteers and students from First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) were out this afternoon painting the crosswalk orange, the colour designated to recognize victims of residential schools. A small crowd gathered to watch the painting, which took place intermittently as city workers directed traffic.

“It was really important for us to recognize Orange Shirt Day, now known as Truth and Reconciliation Day,” said Krysta Alexson, president of the student’s association at FNUC. “We do understand it’s not a holiday in Saskatchewan, so it was important for us as a university to create the awareness within the community.”

Organizers started with a smudge ceremony, with several people passing by invited to join and accepting the invitation. Several cars driving by stopped to honk and wave as the crosswalks gradually turned from faded white to bright, fresh orange.

“We originally wanted to paint crosswalks all across the city,” Alexson said. “We had a bit of a battle to do more than two lines. So today, we’re doing the whole corner of 13^th and Central Orange.”

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While there were two city workers on hand to direct traffic, Alexson said it was no easy task getting the city on board. According to her, it took quite a lot of effort, and a lot of phone calls on their part to secure a location for their painting.

“We approached the city the first week of August and let them know this is our intent, this is who we are,” she said. “We’re ready to cover the cost, but we need some guidance. What paint, what corners, what would be appropriate? We compared Queen Mary (Community School) because they do the gay pride flag every year on 15^th, and (city staff) wasn’t very helpful.”

From there, Alexson said they went out into the community asking others what they had done in the past to make this sort of thing happen. They selected a corner, but the city asked them to pick another one because it had been painted already. Eventually, she said they settled on each side of 13^th Street. In order to paint crosswalks in school zones or near city hall itself, Alexson was told she’d need to go to a city council meeting and present, which she will do tonight.

“Going forward, I want them to take into account that the First Nations University is here,” she said. “We have a presence on Central, and we are active in the community. When they are thinking of Every Child Matters crosswalks, stencils, t-shirts, we should be approached.”

Alexson also said she hopes council will “make apologies for this process” as she said it left them feeling like they’d been shunted to one side.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP