The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) continued its resolution success for 2016 at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Conference and AGM in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 2-5.
The CRD submitted one resolution regarding a proposed National Orange Shirt Day.
The resolution calls upon the federal government to officially declare Sept. 30, National Orange Shirt Day.
It would be a national day to honour residential school survivors, their families and their communities.
It would ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.
The Cariboo Regional District was extremely proud to present this important resolution on the national stage at the FCM Conference, says CRD chair Al Richmond.
“It is important that we all learn from the events which occurred at the residential schools and that we are able to heal together, move forward in collaboration, while acknowledging our past.”
Orange Shirt Day was developed to recognize the experience of survivors of Indian residential schools and show a commitment to remembering the history and legacy of those schools, and that every child matters.
The inspiration behind the orange shirt is based on the experience of Phyllis Webstad.
She is a First Nations woman who, upon her arrival at the St. Joseph Mission Residential School near Williams Lake in 1973 at the age of six, was stripped of her new orange shirt and forced to wear the school’s institutional uniform.
The date, Sept. 30, was chosen to commemorate the time of year that aboriginal children were taken from their communities and delivered to the harsh realities of residential schools.
