Every year, on September 30, we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and Orange Shirt Day to honour and commemorate survivors and ancestors who were and continue to be impacted by the tragic and painful history of residential schools. The last residential school closed in 1996 and the effects of the system and colonization are still deeply felt in communities today.
The Orange Shirt represents the stripping away of the freedoms, cultures, and practices experienced by Indigenous children and families and the opportunity to support and honor their healing journey. We keep the reconciliation process alive by commemorating this day.
AFHTO continues to observe this day of learning, listening, and remembering. Before reconciliation must come truth. We encourage our members to seek understanding about the experiences of Indigenous peoples and recognize that historical and ongoing systemic wrongs have impacts that affects us all.
Opportunities to learn, support, and show commitment to reconciliation, inclusion, and anti-racism:
- Purchase an orange shirt made by an Indigenous artisan or Indigenous business, or non-profit where sales go back to support the community.
- A 1-hour national commemorative gathering will be broadcast live from Ottawa’s LeBreton Flats on September 30, 2022.
- Watch former senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Murray Sinclair discuss how we can move reconciliation forward in Canada.
- Video: Residential Schools in Canada: A Timeline.
- 7 Tips on Building Relationships with Indigenous Peoples.
If you have not yet already, enrol in the IPHCC Foundations of Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) e-learning modules to learn the importance of adopting culturally safe and appropriate practices when serving Indigenous clients and patients.
AFHTO acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.