Time for action on Orange Shirt Day, not political dithering
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/04/2023 (896 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party is wearing its commitment to reconciliation on its sleeve — and it’s not a good look.
Earlier this month, Premier Heather Stefanson revealed that her party is, again, declining to make Orange Shirt Day a statutory provincial holiday.
“It will be the same as last year in terms of the way it has been dealt with,” she told reporters, citing non-consensus among Indigenous communities and concern for business owners.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which occurs Sept. 30, was designated a federal holiday to honour the victims and survivors of Canada’s residential school system in 2021. In Manitoba, federally regulated offices, schools and some provincial workplaces are closed, yet the event remains just another workday for the majority of residents.
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Stefanson all talk, no action on reconciliation
Instead of seizing an opportunity to show leadership on an important file, Ms. Stefanson has spent the last two years waffling.
The party’s latest decision is perhaps no surprise. Last September, on the eve of Orange Shirt Day, Ms. Stefanson and her colleagues stood up in the Manitoba Legislature, while wearing orange attire, and voted down a private member’s bill to declare the holiday provincially.
Familiar sticking points were raised: that more consultation was needed with Indigenous leaders and that businesses would be negatively affected by the closure. Yet, outside the chamber, there appears to be ample support for the stat.
Chiefs from across the province have urged the government to officially recognize the day and a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce survey indicated that 70 per cent of members polled supported the holiday.
The thing is, Ms. Stefanson doesn’t need consensus or outside input. If this were an issue of priority for the party, she and her cabinet could push forward the necessary legislative changes themselves.
While wearing an orange T-shirt and observing a holiday are both symbolic gestures within the scope of reconciliation, these acts send an important message to Manitobans writ large: that historic government-mandated cultural genocide of Indigenous people is a matter worthy of pause. That the generational trauma and ongoing impacts of the residential school system are worthy of public recognition.
JOHN WOODS / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Orange Shirt Day Survivors Walk and Pow Wow on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in the fall of 2022. 
By continuing to hem and haw, Ms. Stefanson and her colleagues are sending a very different message: that they care more about their chances of re-election than they do about taking basic steps toward reconciliation.
During his recent visit to Winnipeg, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on provincial governments to “move forward more seriously” on reconciliation, indirectly alluding to Ms. Stefanson’s earlier comments about Orange Shirt Day.
Our premier has had ample opportunity to act like a leader. Instead, she has chosen to blame Indigenous communities and businesses for her party’s inaction.
While one day off work doesn’t erase centuries of genocidal government policies, it does open the door for historic revelations.
Louis Riel Day has been a stat in Manitoba since 2008. The February holiday, and the public campaign behind its naming, has done much to rewrite Riel’s legacy in this province. He is now widely and rightfully accepted as the founder of Manitoba, instead of as an enemy of the state — a fact proclaimed by many history books until distressingly recently.
There are many Canadians who still don’t accept the truth of the atrocities that took place in residential schools across the country. By enshrining Orange Shirt Day in the calendar, there is an annual opportunity to set the record straight and lead skeptics toward the right side of history.
