LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN: LEND YOUR VOICE TO SUPPORT THE COMPLETION OF TRC CALL TO ACTION #80
September, 2023
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was created in 2008 to acknowledge the profound harm done to Indigenous Peoples through the Indian residential school system. In 2015, the TRC published a summary of its final report, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future. This report includes 94 Calls to Action inspired by stories of more than 6,000 Survivors. As of 2023, Canada has completed only 13 of the 94 Calls to Action.
September 30 is The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, originally known as Orange Shirt Day. It is a movement that officially began in 2013. The roots of Orange Shirt Day began in 1973 when six-year-old Phyllis Webstad (nee Jack) entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School outside of Williams Lake, BC. On her first day of school, her clothes, including the brand-new orange shirt her grandmother (kokum) gave her, were taken from her.
Call #80 states: “We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal Peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.”
Call to Action # 80 is not complete. 7 provinces with 79.9% of the Indigenous population in Canada do not recognize September 30 as a statutory holiday. These provinces are Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador. Only three provinces and all three territories have recognized and enacted September 30 as a statutory holiday; BC, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. (Referenced from: Call to Action # 80 - Indigenous Watchdog )
The Calls to Action were created from the knowledge, experience, and pain of residential school Survivors. Please join the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre (SFBLC) in standing with Survivors by lending your voice to those asking for completion of Call to Action #80 across Canada, by writing a letter to the provincial and federal governments today.