Tuesday is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – a statutory holiday as of 2023.
“It’s an important day for people to have some time and space to consider the history of this country,” says Patty Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, Minister of Jobs and Families, and Minister responsible for Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FEDNOR).
“To consider the realities of Indigenous peoples, and in particular, to understand the impacts of residential schools on First Nations families and communities that still have a deeply painful and lasting legacy to this day,” Minister Hajdu continues.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was born out of Orange Shirt Day, the grassroots Indigenous movement to commemorate the thousands of children who never returned from Canada’s residential schools, and the thousands more who survived, but whose lives were changed forever by their experience.
Hajdu believes Canadians are beginning to grasp the extent of Canada’s dark record in its historic treatment of Indigenous peoples. But knowing and understanding the history only represents the “truth” of truth and reconciliation: to reconcile, action is required too.
The minister says there are both individual and collective acts that can be taken. “To continue this path of healing that I would say our country is on, it is obviously about compensation in some cases that governments have been pursuing for long-standing violations of treaties, which are still living and breathing documents.”
“But for individual Canadians, I think it’s important to understand the context of the area that you’re living in. In Northern Ontario, we have a rich history of Indigenous contributions, Indigenous communities, Indigenous leaders, and Indigenous people,” Hajdu continues.
“I think that Canadians, by participating in these National Truth and Reconciliation Days, have an opportunity to hear from the stories of Indigenous peoples themselves, that can speak to their experiences, their hopes, and the challenges they continue to face.”
Delivering on reconciliation
For decades, Canada has recorded a gap in socio-economic well-being between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, measured by a Community Well-Being Index.
Indigenous Peoples in Canada tend to have lower incomes, higher rates of poverty, and lower rates of employment and education, with all the problems that come with being economically worse off. These numbers are only exacerbated for Indigenous peoples who live on-reserve.
It is impossible to separate the economic gap experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada from the history that the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation attempts to bring to light.
As the minister responsible for FEDNOR, Hajdu says grants and contributions going to Indigenous-owned companies and corporations help contribute to economic reconciliation.
There may be more opportunities for economic reconciliation with the controversial Bill C-5, which Prime Minister Mark Carney intends to use to speed up economic development projects.
The nuance of the situation is that there is no consensus between Indigenous communities around Bill C-5: some support the promise of economic reconciliation, while others are concerned about the possibility of violating sovereignty and damaging the environment.
“The Prime Minister has been really clear that projects of national interest have to benefit First Nations or Indigenous people,” says Hadju.
Referring to the first five nation-building economic projects announced earlier in September by the federal government, the minister says “they all have an extensive Indigenous component, including in some cases Indigenous equity positions, Indigenous consultations, Indigenous collaboration.”
But Hajdu also recognizes why support for the projects is far from universal. “I understand the fear in this space because of the history of how this country has operated, in many cases violating treaty rights, and violating agreements that have long standing in the Canadian law systems and in the courts.”
Hajdu says Canada’s nation-building projects must demonstrate a benefit to Indigenous peoples and partners. She hopes that over time, trust can be built in that space if Canada follows through on its promises.
