NationTalk: The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 provides an opportunity for ALL Canadians to honour Indigenous survivors, their families and communities and to commemorate the ongoing legacy – and tragedy – of residential schools that were specifically designed to “kill the Indian in the child”.  Seven generations of Indigenous people have been denied what most Canadians take for granted: pride in their ancestry, their heritage, their language, their culture, their values – what defines our Indigeneity as the First Peoples of Kanata.

Why then have only seven of the 13 provinces and territories with 34.5% of the Indigenous population declared Sept. 30th a statutory holiday?

Why have 6 provinces – Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador (with 65.5% of the Indigenous population) – refused to declare the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a statutory holiday?

In the seven provinces that have made September 30th a statutory holiday: 625,320 Indigenous people (2021 Census) are free to attend any of the myriad events held to honour the residential school survivors, their families and their communities. In the six provinces that do not: 1,182,940 (2021 census) Indigenous people are not.

At a time when residential school denialism is becoming more and more pronounced, governments can do more to counter the ongoing denial of basic Indigenous rights – including the right to join other Canadians in honouring and commemorating residential school survivors, their families and their communities on September 30 – as a statutory holiday just like it is in seven other provinces and territories.