'The hurt is still there,' survivors say as Canada marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Canada marked the fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Monday with events across the country to remember the tragic legacy of residential schools and honour the children who never came home.

At a national ceremony in Ottawa, thousands of people gathered to hear from First Nations, Métis and Inuit survivors of these schools, which were run at different times by the federal government and some churches up until the late 20th century.

Musicians and other performers took to a stage set up on Parliament Hill's front lawn as the orange shirt-clad crowd participated in a day meant to commemorate past wrongs, but also renew the country's commitment to a better future for Indigenous peoples.

In a particularly moving moment, the crowd passed around a lengthy "memorial cloth" featuring the names of some of the 150,000 students who were forced to attend these schools. 

Other attendees placed pairs of children's shoes around the stage to commemorate those lost to a school system that was rife with abuse.

Gordon Burnstick, a residential school survivor and a member of Alexander First Nation northwest of Edmonton, was on hand for the events in Ottawa.

"It still bothers me today," he said of his three-year experience at St. Martin's Mission in Wabasca, Alta., in the 1960s.

"I was abused in so many ways in that school, especially the sexual abuse," he said in an interview with CBC News.

Burnstick dropped out of school, developed a drinking problem and had trouble with the law.

"I was always drunk, I didn't care about anything, I just wanted to die — I didn't care about nobody. It really affected me," he said.

He turned things around when he quit drinking and drugs in 1990.

Now, he's an advocate for his fellow school survivors and the children who died while in state care.

"The hurt is still there. Today I'm here to pray for healing for our people. We must never forget about what happened to us there," he said.

"I pray these gatherings never stop until the last child is found."