Canada Day 2021 - Reflection

Canada Day 2021 is shaping up to be unlike any other we have experienced.?The marketing and communications team at Port Saint John has been openly discussing our own individual plans of reflection for Canada Day.?We are keenly aware that the news around residential schools and Indigenous experience in Canada is a harsh reality that many Canadians were unaware about and this reality stirs up much emotion.

As we worked through our own feelings and reactions, our team discussed taking the time to reflect on reconciliation and mourn the recent discoveries of the unmarked graves of Indigenous children and to brace for future discoveries.?

There is no way we can fully understand the atrocities and impacts on the Indigenous peoples of Canada during this dark period of history.?There are few words that can adequately describe the feeling that having this knowledge now brings us.?However, the way forward involves acknowledging the truths of the past. Truths that may not have been taught to us in school or covered in the news (until recently).

As I write this, I am reminded by the paper on the wall that I hold both a BA and an MA in Canadian History. Yet there is much that is flawed in what I studied and what was presented to me. In the study of history there is a specialization called historiography, which is essentially the study of how history is interpreted and told.?A mass re-interpretation of history is now underway. And it is needed. This is the time to open our minds, to listen, and to learn anew.

If others may be choosing to approach this day in reflection, our marketing and communications team?suggests a place to start is the Truth and Reconciliation 94 Calls to Action found here. These Calls to Action were identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 and to date only a few have been implemented.??For the younger people in your lives, this additional resource which speaks to the Calls to Action and is geared to help them understand this difficult topic.

Personally, I also recommend the novel Indian Horse, an award winning book written by a survivor of Canada’s residential schools Richard Wagaseme, or the film adaptation which is also very good and may be found on Crave or CBC Gem.

Resources for Indigenous peoples across Canada:

Hope for Wellness help to all Indigenous peoples across Canada (1-855-242-3310 or connect to the online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.)

National Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 for Residential School survivors and their families