September 30th marks Canada’s third anniversary for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation also known as Orange Shirt Day. It is a day to honour the healing journeys of residential school survivors and their families and a time to engage in meaningful discussions about the history and legacy of the residential school system.
Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the ongoing individual, family, and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to acknowledge that “Every Child Matters”. The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. Across the country, many local activities are taking place that commemorate the history, legacy, and horrors of residential schools. We encourage our members to participate in local events that recognize the importance of this day and wear orange on September 30th to honour the thousands of survivors of residential school and to remember the children who never made it home.
As part of our responsibility in reconciliation, we are working towards our own call to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report. As outlined in the report, call to action 92 requests that, “we call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.” At Enserva, we are committed to learning, listening, and understanding. We are also committed to implementing the TRC’s calls to action in our internal policies, on our councils, and in our external work, and together with our members continue on this journey of reconciliation and healing.
Enserva is incredibly grateful to our many Indigenous partners. Canada’s energy services, supply and manufacturing sector is committed to building our relationships with Indigenous communities in the spirit of reconciliation, collaboration and healing. We join them in collectively coming together to reflect on and recognize this terrible stain on our country’s history and move forward in reconciliation.
Enserva is committed to ongoing learning, and we will be taking time today to reflect on our shared journey. We encourage you to do the same.
For more on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and to start your learning journey click here.
“We have described for you a mountain. We have shown you the path to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing.” – Senator Murray Sinclair, Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
