A federal government promise to enact a new statutory holiday along the theme of reconciliation is getting mixed reviews in Red Deer’s aboriginal community.
Social activist Lyle Keewatin Richards doesn’t mind the idea of a stat holiday. But he considers the loss of Gross Domestic Product that would occur if everybody took a day off work on either June 21 or Sept. 30 — the two dates the government is considering.
And his priority is putting some of this money towards programs that would actually improve the lives of Canada’s Indigenous people. “Put the resources into programs that heal the kids, that bring fresh water into reserves…”
Keewatin Richards noted that Indigenous Peoples Day is already held on June 21 — and although it isn’t an official stat, it is still a day of cultural celebration.
But Tanya Schur, community facilitator of Urban Aboriginal Voices, thinks the new stat could be a good way of educating and spreading awareness in the broader community of the damaging legacy of the Indian residential school system.
Having a Day of Reconciliation — as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee — is a good step forward, said Schur. “What we really want is a day of coming together that celebrates us standing together.”
Having it in the fall also might be a healing way of reaching out to older residential school survivors, added Schur. A community elder recently told her she dreaded the fall, because residential school classes would start again, and she would have to leave their parents and once again suppress her culture.
Although this woman is now nearing 80 years old, “fall is still a rough time for her,” said Schur, who feels this underlines the negative lifetime impact caused by the residential school program.
“We need to talk about these things to create a really strong diverse community… where everybody is important.”
In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to implement all 94 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.
If the stat is approved by Ottawa, all federal employees would get a day off work. Everybody else would have to wait and see if provincial and territorial governments then adopted the holiday too.
Voice your opinion on the proposed stat in a reader poll on the Advocate’s website.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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