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OTTAWA — Canada’s Governor General, Prime Minister and Alberta government are marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by honouring residential school Survivors, remembering children who never returned home and calling for continued action beyond Sept. 30.
Governor General Mary Simon said Wednesday Canadians must confront the history and lasting effects of residential schools while continuing to listen to First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices.
Simon said many Canadians, including herself, did not grow up knowing that history and acknowledged that confronting it can be painful and unsettling.
She said reconciliation requires honest dialogue, continued learning and concrete action to address inequities inherited from past wrongs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were separated from their families and communities and sent to residential schools over more than a century.
Carney said the system was built around assimilation policies intended to separate children from their languages, cultures, identities and ways of life, adding the federal government established and sustained the system and bears responsibility for the lasting harm it caused.
More than 6,600 Survivors and witnesses shared their experiences with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which issued 94 Calls to Action in 2015.
Carney said those calls remain a roadmap for reconciliation and pointed to work on health care, education, Indigenous languages and cultures, safe drinking water and infrastructure in First Nations communities.
He also cited ongoing work on the Calls for Justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Across Alberta, Indigenous Relations Minister Rajan Sawhney said the day honours Survivors, families and communities that continue to live with the effects of the residential school system.
She said orange shirts serve as a visible reminder of children whose language, culture and identity were taken from them and of the need to ensure the history is not forgotten.
Sawhney said reconciliation cannot be confined to a single day and requires sustained relationships built through listening, respect and support for Indigenous-led priorities.
The Alberta government pointed to economic and community initiatives it says are part of that work.
Since 2019, the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation has provided more than $745 million in loan guarantees to 43 Indigenous communities through nine major commercial transactions.
The province also highlighted Indigenous-led recovery programs, including two recovery communities now operating with the Blood Tribe and Siksika Nation, with three more planned for Tsuut’ina Nation, Métis Crossing and Enoch Cree Nation.
Sawhney said Alberta is also supporting Indigenous priorities through investments in housing, infrastructure, transportation, economic development, education, language revitalization and community well-being.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is observed annually on Sept. 30 alongside Orange Shirt Day.
The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419 for Survivors and their families.
The Hope for Wellness Helpline is also available around the clock at 1-855-242-3310 for Indigenous people seeking emotional support or crisis intervention.
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