September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday created through legislation to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s call to action number 80. This day is intended to honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis residential school survivors, the children who never returned home, their families and communities.
The reconciliation process requires us all to reflect on the history and impact of residential schools, and what we still need to learn. In the words of The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the hope for a national day was that Canadians would “take a day out of their lives to lend their ears and their hearts to survivors, to listen to them, and to resolve to do better.”
As I reflect on my own reconciliation journey, I am reminded that there are so many opportunities to learn and unlearn. I will never be able to walk in the shoes of those who were and continue to be impacted by residential schools; however, I can take time, including on September 30, to reflect and to make a commitment to continue to understand the complexity of reconciliation.
The Senate released a report in July 2024, titled, Missing Records, Missing Children. Until I read this report, I had never given much thought to how families and communities accessed residential school records – especially those who still seek answers about what happened to their children who went missing when attending residential schools or to identify who are the children in unmarked graves across this country. The report highlights the challenges that Indigenous people and their communities have locating and accessing residential school records and makes recommendations to improve access. Getting answers is such an important part of healing for survivors and their families and should not be so difficult – yet it is.
A colleague asked me if I knew the difference between the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. My honest answer was that I did not. What I have since learned is that while both occur on the same date, Orange Shirt Day preceded the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which was established in 2021.
Orange Shirt Day is inspired by Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor who told her story of her first day of residential schooling. At six years old, she was stripped of her clothes, including the new orange shirt her grandmother bought her, which was never returned. The orange shirt represents the efforts made by the residential school system to deny children of their Indigenous identity. Wearing an orange shirt visibly reminds us that “Every Child Matters” and represents the time of year that children were removed from their homes. I would encourage all to read Orange Shirt Day: September 30th (Revised 2023 Edition) to learn more about this history behind the Orange Shirt movement.
I hope that each of us takes time on September 30 to reflect and, going forward, to be part of discussions at the College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia on the importance of our commitment to reconciliation. As a regulator, we are one of many important parties in the journey towards reconciliation, and we are committed to support learning and to change our own behaviours to inspire public trust and ensure our regulatory systems are safe and relational.
Dianne Millette
Registrar & Chief Executive Officer
College of Health and Care Professionals of BC
See Justice Murray Sinclair’s full speech at the 2022 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The Orange Shirt Day Shirt Day Society website has a reconciliation hub with resources, including videos about Orange Shirt Day and Canadian History and the Residential School System.
Learn more about CHCPBC’s commitment to cultural safety, humility, and anti-racism.
Comments on this message or any other CHCPBC content can be submitted to the communications department at gro.cbpchc@snoitacinummoc.
