KENORA — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is officially a civic holiday for Kenora after Wednesday’s city council meeting.
Council members passed a resolution declaring Sept. 30 a civic holiday and encouraging “all municipal employees and the community to observe the occasion as intended.”
Because it falls on a Saturday this year, the civic holiday will be observed on the following Monday, Oct. 2.
Coun. Lindsay Koch, who moved the resolution, said Thursday in an email that the decision stems from talks between city administration and the union that represents most city employees.
Most city employees “will be given the day off work to, hopefully, participate in events or meaningful learning related to this day,” she said.
“National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is important to me,” Koch said. “I believe we are well and truly in an era of ‘know better, do better,’ and engaging in thoughtful and meaningful learning and engagement on days like this is one way we can continue to do just that — know better and do better by others, and in this case, Indigenous peoples across the country who continue to face systemic harm and discrimination.
“We live in a part of the country and province where our communities are lucky enough to be surrounded by Indigenous culture, and it is important that we all do the work of acknowledging the very real and difficult truth of the impacts of colonization, and engaging in meaningful reconciliation.”
Truth and Reconciliation Day was established in 2021 as a statutory holiday for employees in the federal government and federally regulated workplaces. A few provinces – Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and B.C. – and all three northern territories have made it a stat holiday, but not Ontario.
Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, a New Democrat, has termed the Progressive Conservative government’s decision not to make the day a statutory holiday in Ontario “shameful.”
