Question Period Note: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

To address the legacy of residential schools and advance reconciliation, the Government committed to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In response to Call to Action 80, which calls for the creation of a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage introduced, on September 29, 2020, Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation).

• Our Government is committed to advancing reconciliation and renewing the relationship with Indigenous peoples based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.
• In response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, we have introduced Bill C-5 to establish a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• This new proposed statutory holiday on September 30 will honour survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the tragic history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

• To address the legacy of residential schools and advance reconciliation, the Government committed to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Call to Action 80 calls “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.”
• In 2017, a private member’s bill (Bill C-369) was introduced for the creation of a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The proposed legislation died on the order paper. During the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s study of Private Member’s Bill C-369 in 2018 and 2019, witnesses from Indigenous organizations were in favour of the creation of a statutory holiday to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools.
• Bill C-5 would amend three pieces of legislation in order to establish the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act, and Part III of the Canada Labour Code.
• The new statutory holiday would apply to employees in the federally regulated private sector (i.e. those covered under Part III of the Canada Labour Code), and due to existing provisions in all federal public service collective agreements, as well as past practices to extend similar terms of employment to the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP, these employees would also be entitled to this federal holiday.
• Orange Shirt Day, commemorated on September 30, is a prominent example of an unofficial commemorative day. Orange Shirt Day honours the children who survived Residential Schools and remembers those who did not. This day relates to Phyllis Webstad’s experience on her first day of school, where she arrived dressed in a new orange shirt, which was taken from her. It is now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.
• To raise awareness of the history and legacy of residential schools and to create a positive environment for reconciliation, Budget 2019 committed $7 million over two years, starting in 2019-20, to be delivered through the Celebration and Commemoration Program for activities recognizing and commemorating the legacy of residential schools.
• The Celebration and Commemoration Program is providing $650,000 to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation for a large-scale national event on September 30, 2020 in Winnipeg.

• September 30 is recognized as Orange Shirt Day. Today, we encourage all Canadians to wear orange in order to raise awareness of the history and legacy of residential schools, and to honour the thousands of survivors.