IFPTE Marks This Canada Day By Joining Call to Redress the Legacy of Injustice to Indigenous Peoples
On this Canada Day, IFPTE Locals joined with communities, unions, and civil society groups across Canadians in a call to acknowledge the injustices to Indigenous peoples and commit to working toward reconciliation.
Society of United Professionals/IFPTE Local 160 on Canada Day
Canada Day comes to us with heavy hearts this year. As a nation we are facing a reckoning with Canada’s treatment of Indigenous peoples who live here. This has cast a pall over this year’s celebrations. Canadians should be proud of having built a multicultural democracy that takes good care of most of its citizens. But, it has become impossible to ignore that Canada was built on the suffering of Indigenous people.
This Canada Day, if we want to affirm all of those positive beliefs that we attach to ourselves as a nation, we must work on reconciliation with our past and present treatment of Indigenous peoples. Fortunately, we have a road map thanks to the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Thanks to the work of Indigenous people we know the truth, now it is up to Canadians to implement the 94 TRC Calls to Actions.
We believe that Canada is a country that is up for that challenge. That we, as a people, are committed enough to justice to work towards reconciliation. As long as Canadians are prepared to rise to this occasion, then we still have a great deal to celebrate and be proud of this Canada Day.
IFPTE’s Canadian locals are also sharing these resources with their members and the public:
Canada’s Unions Say This Canada Day is a Time for Reconciliation, Not Celebration (Canadian Labour Congress)
Non-Indigenous People — Here’s What You Can Do, Right Now (The Discourse/IndigiNews)
Application + Action: TRC Reading Guide for Non-Indigenous Organizations , 2018 [PDF] (Manitoba Harm Reduction Network/Ka Ni Kanichihk)
Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada, 2015 [PDF]
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and its 94 Calls to Action, 2015 [PDF]