Six Nations elected chief wants National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to be Ontario holiday
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
The elected chief of Six Nations of the Grand River sent a letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford asking that the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation be a provincial holiday.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, is on Sept. 30. It's a day to recognize and reflect on the legacy of residential schools in Canada.
In June, Ottawa passed legislation to recognize Sept. 30 as a federal statutory holiday, making it a paid day off for federal employees and staff in federally regulated workplaces.
This was among the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission — meant to honour Canada's residential school survivors, their families and communities and to publicly commemorate the history and ongoing legacy of the schools.
But Curtis Lindsay, press secretary for Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford, confirmed in an email to CBC Toronto on Sept. 9 that the day will not be a holiday for Ontario.
"Ontario is working in collaboration with Indigenous partners, survivors and affected families to ensure the respectful commemoration of this day within the province, similar to Remembrance Day," Lindsay wrote.
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