Commemoration first, provincial designation to follow?

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This article was published 29/09/2023 (724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans flooded downtown Winnipeg with a sea of orange Saturday to honour residential school survivors and children who didn’t come home on what may be the last National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to go unrecognized as a statutory holiday in the province.

Adding Sept. 30 — alternatively known as Orange Shirt Day — to the calendar of general holidays in Manitoba is a ballot-box issue, with two of the province’s three main political parties promising to give voters the day off with pay.

“It’s an important day that the government should be able to recognize as a stat holiday for our people,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said.

Many Manitobans are robbed of the opportunity to fully engage in a crucial day of reflection and education because it is not a holiday, the AMC leader said.

“It is a very important time for our people; it is a very important time that our people be able to tell their stories, to be able to share their stories with our relatives,” she said.

The Manitoba NDP committed to making Sept. 30 a statutory holiday within one year if it wins Tuesday’s election, which opinion polling suggests is likely.

“Every single Manitoban deserves to have the right to participate, if they choose, to honour and reflect and commemorate residential school survivors and the children who never came home,” NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Friday. “That includes you who work in a manufacturing plant, you who work on a construction site and, if you choose to go to work on a future Orange Shirt Day, you should get stat pay on that day.

“This is an important time for Manitobans, and if we’re elected, this will be the last Orange Shirt Day that is not a statutory holiday that everyone can freely participate in.”

The federal government proclaimed Sept. 30 the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021 to honour survivors and publicly commemorate the history and legacy of the residential school system. It is a federal statutory holiday.

The Manitoba government currently recognizes the day with the closure of non-essential government services, offices and K-12 schools.

Past attempts to include the day as a general holiday alongside New Year’s Day, Louis Riel Day, and others in Manitoba’s Employment Standards Code have been unsuccessful.

A private member’s bill sponsored by the NDP’s Ian Bushie, who is running in Keewatinook, to make it a stat received support in principle from the Tories but failed to pass second reading in the last legislative session.

Progressive Conservative leader and Premier Heather Stefanson cited a need for more consultation with Indigenous leaders as the reason Sept. 30 wouldn’t be a holiday this year. That was sharply criticized by chiefs, who said their position on the matter is clear.

And according to public opinion polls, many Manitobans want to see the day recognized. A Free Press-Probe Research poll conducted in June found 49 per cent of Manitobans strongly support making the day a stat and 26 per cent are somewhat supportive.

Tory candidate Kelvin Goertzen said his party doesn’t want Sept. 30 to “become simply a day off.”

Asked whether a re-elected PC government would introduce legislation to make Sept. 30 a holiday or give it similar treatment as Remembrance Day, Goertzen, who is seeking a fifth election victory in Steinbach, made no commitments.

“We think the appropriate way to go when it comes to (the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) is to make it meaningful, to ensure that there are great opportunities for Manitobans to reflect, engage on the importance of the day,” the justice minister said.

“That includes with schools, when school is happening that day. We want people to recognize the importance of it, reflect on it, reflect on the harms that were caused. We want schoolchildren, in particular, to understand that both through the curriculum and the day itself.”

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said he supports a Sept. 30 stat, noting Tyndall Park candidate Cindy Lamoureux was first to introduce a private member’s bill to make the change.

“This is an incredibly important issue and making it a stat holiday will ensure all Manitobans are able to reflect on the history of residential schools and the harms caused to Indigenous peoples — many of which continue to this day,” said Lamont, who released the party’s “reconciliation platform” Friday.

It highlighted past commitments to search the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of two slain First Nations women and compensate communities adversely affected by hydroelectric development, among other promises.

Merrick said AMC will work with whichever party forms government to make Sept. 30 a holiday. She lamented the debate over the matter, saying it’s inappropriate for the government to “define our needs as First Nations.”

“Governments have told First Nations what we need and who we are for far too long,” she said. “If you’re seeking guidance on how this province, or even the entire country, can kick-start the reconciliation process, turn to us, ask us.”

Multiple events to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are planned across Manitoba Saturday.

In Winnipeg, thousands are expected to take part in the Survivors Walk and Pow Wow organized by Wa-Say Healing Centre.

The third-annual walk begins at 11 a.m. at Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks and will follow a route to Canada Life Centre led by the Oyate Techa Riders on horseback. Participants are encouraged to wear orange.

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The powwow will take place at Canada Life Centre with grand entry at 1 p.m.

Speakers include Merrick, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Kinew, who will be participating in the march and powwow. The Liberal party said Lamont will also participate in the survivors walk.

Stefanson will be in the Parkland region participating in events hosted by a local First Nations community, according to a Tory campaign spokesman.

— With files from Katie May

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca