Province introduces bill to make Orange Shirt Day stat holiday

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This article was published 27/11/2023 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A bill to recognize Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday to mark Orange Shirt Day in Manitoba is now before provincial lawmakers.

“This bill is an important step forward in the journey of reconciliation for all Manitobans,” Premier Wab Kinew told the house Monday after introducing Bill 4, the Employment Standards Code Amendment and Interpretation Amendment Act (Orange Shirt Day).

The bill aims to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools in Manitoba and acknowledge the harm caused to Indigenous people, including intergenerational trauma.

“It fulfills one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and, in particular, it ensures that every child in Manitoba will be able to participate in the next Orange Shirt Day, no matter where their parents work — that’s including folks who work in manufacturing, construction and any other provincially-regulated workplace,” the premier said.

When the Sept. 30 holiday falls on a weekend, the proposed law says schools are to observe it on the following Monday.

The legislation was developed following consultations with Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors and stakeholders throughout the province, the government said.

“I think that our government’s public stance is that this is an important day to commemorate and honour the experiences of residential school survivors,” Kinew told reporters. “It should also be a day to spend time with the people that you love, in part so that you can honour what was deprived from kids in residential schools.”

It’s a day to reflect on the past and to look to the future “about what you want Manitoba and Canada to be like going forward,” the premier said.

Three-quarters of Manitobans polled earlier this year said Orange Shirt Day should be made a statutory holiday.

A Free Press Probe Research poll of 1,000 Manitoba adults surveyed from May 31 to June 13 found 49 per cent strongly support the idea of making Sept. 30 the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a statutory holiday in this province. Twenty-six per cent said they somewhat support it.

The legislation would add to Manitoba’s eight general holidays recognized by law: New Year’s Day, Louis Riel Day (third Monday in February), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day (July 1), Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Employees either have this day off with pay, or are paid at a higher rate if they are required to work.

The Government of Canada declared it a federal holiday in 2021. The former Progressive Conservative government said more consultation was required before making it a provincial statutory holiday. Instead, Manitoba closed non-essential government services and offices, and K-12 schools did not open.

Earlier this year, the then-governing Progressive Conservatives voted in favour of an NDP private member’s bill recognizing Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday but didn’t pass enabling legislation before the PC government was dissolved and an election called.

The Orange Shirt Day bill is the third piece of legislation the governing NDP have introduced since the Nov. 21 start of the legislative session.

“I look forward to the support of every MLA in this chamber to ensure this passes before the winter break,” Kinew said.

The opposition PCs have said they’re studying the bill.

The house is scheduled to adjourn Dec. 7 and return March 6.

Two other bills have taken a step closer to becoming legislation: Bill 2 — the Louis Riel Act — recognizing the Metis leader as Manitoba’s honorary first premier and Bill 3 — the Fuel Tax Amendment Act (Fuel Tax Holiday) have both received second reading. The bill that would suspend the 14-cent-per-litre provincial gas tax for at least six months starting Jan. 1 has been called to committee on Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.