National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – Spotlight - Jacqui, RPN, President CUPE 1065

I feel that the importance of Orange Shirt Day, also the National Truth and Reconciliation Day, is to create an opportunity for observance and to promote education and awareness about the impact the residential school system had and continues to have on Indigenous communities.  

We must continue to spread awareness about the thousands of children who were taken and sent to residential schools who then never returned home. It is crucial for everyone to recognize the impact that these residential schools had on our culture and the impact it continues to have today.  

It is necessary to continue to remember the thousands of innocent children that have been found in unmarked graves at the sites of these schools over the last year.  We all have a very important job to educate our communities and children about the history of Indigenous culture, so we never forget the lost souls who never returned home, and more importantly keep their spirits alive.