This Thursday will mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, after the new statutory holiday was announced in July.
Because it’s a federal holiday, like Remembrance Day, not everyone gets it off in Ontario. But the City of Kingston is making it a civic holiday, granting the day off to many of its workers.
Mayor Bryan Paterson wants the community to use the day to learn and reflect.
“I think it was a way to encourage people to have the time to attend a gathering or to spend time in reflection, to very much model this day very much the way we do Remembrance Day,” Paterson says.
The city is also hosting a few events in honour of the new holiday. A sacred fire and vigil will be held from sunrise to sunset in front of city hall, along with virtual events.
“I’ll be coming by the gathering and joining with community members, and certainly encouraging others in the community to come and to spend some time in reflection, to speak with others, and to be able to, as a community, share that same spirit of reconciliation,” Paterson says.
The Seniors Centre is going to be closed for the truth and reconciliation day, so it is hosting a ceremony the day before instead. The ceremony will include traditional Indigenous dances, along with stories from residential school survivors.
“Reconciliation begins with us. Truth comes from the Indigenous community. We need to be part of the reconciliation, and, in some parts, we need to initiate it,” Seniors Centre director of communications Catherine Milks says.
Queen’s University is also preparing a few events throughout the day. There will be a sacred fire gathering on Agnes Benidickson Field and a campus-wide moment of silence at 2:15 p.m. for the 215 children discovered in unmarked graves outside a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.