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). The bill received Royal Assent on June 3, 2021.

• Bill C-5, which establishes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, received Royal Assent on June 3. This is a direct response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.
• This new annual statutory holiday on September 30 will ensure that public commemoration of the tragic history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.
• In addition, Budget 2021 provides $13.4 million over five years, with $2.4 million ongoing, for commemoration activities and events for the National Day.

• 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, which establishes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, received Royal Assent on June 3, 2021.
• This law amends 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 will 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 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, these employees will also be entitled to this federal holiday.
• Orange Shirt Day, commemorated for many years now on September 30, is a prominent example of an unofficial commemorative day. On that day, all Canadians are encouraged to wear orange to honour the children who survived Residential Schools and to remember 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. Overall, funding was allocated to 200 organizations for local community projects and to seven large scale national projects.
• Furthermore, Budget 2021 has allocated $13.4 million over five years, with $2.4 million ongoing, to Canadian Heritage for events to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools, and to honour survivors, their families and communities, as well as to support celebrations and commemoration events during the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• To create an effective implementation strategy, Canadian Heritage will engage with Indigenous groups, survivor organizations and communities to determine how best to allocate funds identified in Budget 2021.
• In parallel with this engagement, the Department will collaborate with national organizations for large-scale commemorative events on September 30, 2021, to raise awareness regarding the history and ongoing legacy of residential schools and the newly established National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

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