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CMHA WW Commemorates National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day
Sep 29, 2023
September 30th marks Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR) and Orange Shirt Day. This day honours survivors of residential schools, their families and communities, as well as the children who never returned home. NDTR was established by the federal government to ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process. Similarly, Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led commemoration to raise awareness of the impacts of residential schools and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission ran from 2008 to 2015 and provided those directly and indirectly affected by the legacy of the residential schools with an opportunity to share their stories and experiences. The Commission released a report detailing 94 calls to action, including 7 specifically related to health care. Click here to view the progress to date on these calls to action.
CMHA Waterloo Wellington stands with CMHA National in calling for our health care system and decision-makers to heed the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to support Indigenous communities’ calls to action on reconciliation, and particularly those in support of Indigenous mental health, healing, and well-being. CMHA WW values equity in mental health service delivery and recognizes that our organizational culture needs to be inclusive and representative of the communities we serve to promote better mental health services and outcomes for all. This commitment is reflected in our EIDAR (Equity, Inclusion, Diversity and Anti-Racism) Strategy, which pays particular attention to Indigenous and Black communities.