Dozens of motorcyclists rode from Winnipeg to the NTL Indigenous Residential School Museum on this past Saturday for the fifth annual Every Child Matters ride, an event organizers say honours the children who died in residential schools and the survivors who continue to seek justice and recognition.
The group, organized by Bavva Dhillon, gathered at Dhillon Automotive on Pembina Highway before heading west, stopping in Portage la Prairie at the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada on Long Plain First Nation. The journey ended at the Brandon site, located on Sioux Valley Dakota Nation land.
Dhillon, a Sapotaweyak Cree Nation councillor, said the ride is about truth, justice, and unity. Her mother is a survivor of the non-registered Pelican Rapids Residential Day School.
"Let it be known: the non-registered day schools were no different," Dhillon stated in the official ride outline. "Same buildings. Same priests and nuns. Same abuse."
Manitoba's Official Opposition Leader Obby Khan, who joined the ride, called the event "powerful."
"This is far greater than anything in politics, stretching beyond party lines," Khan said. "A lot of people still don't know the history of residential schools in Canada. It is so important that we get out and raise awareness about this cause—the principle that every child matters—and get people talking."
This year's ride marked its fifth anniversary, continuing a movement Dhillon describes as part of a national effort to acknowledge and address the harms of residential schools, including those not recognized in formal government compensation programs.