Yukoners cover childcare costs for Indigenous workers on Sept. 30
CBC
Some Yukoners are deciding to go one step further for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation this week by sending money to Indigenous people who do not get the day off.
The Yukon Helpers Network is asking for donations of $150, enough to cover a day's worth of childcare or allow someone to take an unpaid day off on Thursday to participate in local events.
The new federal statutory holiday on Sept. 30 only applies to workers in the public service and some businesses who decide to observe it. According to the legislation, the holiday will honour residential school survivors and their families because public commemoration of these atrocities "remains a vital component of the reconciliation process."
Elena Joss, a Yukon government employee, started the local fundraising campaign by posting on the Yukon Helpers Network's Facebook page.
Joss didn't always work for the public service. For many years, her jobs in the private sector meant she didn't always have statutory holidays off, though her children in school did — so Joss would be stuck finding childcare for the day.
She said she imagines many Indigenous people who don't work for the public service are doing the same thing this week.
"It's not just about the child care, it's about First Nations people in general," Joss said. "If we're getting the day off, they should get the day off. If that means giving up a day off, we should. This day is for them."
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