Ontario NDP renews push to make Truth and Reconciliation day a statutory holiday

The Opposition NDP is calling on the Ontario government to support a private member's bill that would see Sept. 30 become a Truth and Reconciliation statutory holiday in the province.

Bill 211, called the Day of Reflection for Indian Residential Schools Act, was introduced by NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa in early November. Mamakwa represents the sprawling northwestern Ontario riding of Kiiwetinoong and is the only First Nations legislator at Queen's Park.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Mamakwa said if passed, the bill would make Sept. 30 "a day of reflection" on the ongoing legacy of the residential school system in the province.

"The intergenerational trauma it caused continues to impact the mental health, the wellbeing of many First Nations people and communities today," he said.

Mamakwa said he hasn't heard directly from the government if the Progressive Conservative majority plans to support the private member's bill, which rarely become law. But he called on Premier Doug Ford to urge his MPPs to vote for the bill's passage.

"If he truly cares about reconciliation, if he truly cares about Indigenous people in this province, then he should direct his ministers, his cabinet, to support this bill," he said.

The bill will undergo a second reading and debate Thursday afternoon.

Some 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996.

An estimated 6,000 Indigenous children died at the institutions, but some experts believe the number to be higher. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has recorded the names of more than 4,000 who died.

Many schools across Ontario currently mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by encouraging students to wear orange shirts and to learn about residential schools. Many schools also learn about Indigeneity throughout the week and the year.

A provincial statutory holiday would bring Ontario in line with federal policy and several other provinces and territories. Sept. 30 is already the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day.

While it has been informally observed since 2013, the federal Liberal government made the day a federal statutory holiday in 2021 in response to one of 94 recommendations from the the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

It is already a statutory holiday for workers in B.C., Manitoba, PEI, Northwest Territories and Yukon, while provincial government employees in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also have the day off.

"Ontario needs to reckon with the truth. That is why it is so important to have this day for families and loved ones to spend time together, to learn and reflect, attend community events and find ways towards reconciliation in every corner of the province," Mamakwa said.

"Non-Indigenous people on this land need to take responsibility for the work they need to do to begin the process of reconciling."

CBC Toronto has reached out to Ford's office and the minister of Indigenous affairs for comment.