Canadians are being increasingly awakened to the historic injustices inflicted upon its indigenous peoples. The country’s federal government recently declared that every September 30th will henceforth be designated National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. On Oct. 12, Loreena made a presentation to Stratford City Council, where she lives, asking councillors to make Sept. 30th a statutory holiday for all its civic employees.
“We are living in a time of much reckoning – with a need of much reconciling,” Loreena told the council. “A reconciling with a colonial past, which, although for the most part was not of this generation’s doing, if we do nothing going forward we will indeed be complicit in perpetuating this unconscionable harm.”
Loreena’s remarks at 14 minutes and 40 seconds.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours the survivors of the government-sponsored residential school system, which saw indigenous children torn from their families, their communities, their culture and language, in an attempt to assimilate them into broader Canadian society.
Wise Communities Stratford was founded in 2020 by Loreena as a vehicle for information, discussion and advocacy on a wide range of topics vital to her local community and beyond.