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September 30 asks us to pause with a history whose effects remain present.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours residential school survivors, remembers the children who never returned home, and recognizes the families and communities who continue to carry the effects of that history. Observed alongside Orange Shirt Day, it creates space for remembrance, learning, and reflection on our shared responsibility to advance reconciliation.
Behind that recognition are individual lives: children whose families waited for them, survivors who have worked to have their experiences acknowledged, and generations who have grown up feeling the effects of events they did not experience themselves. To honour this day meaningfully, we must be willing to sit with that reality, and consider what we do with the understanding it brings.
Remembering the lives behind the history
The legacy of residential schools continues within families and communities. Its effects can be felt in relationships, in the loss and reclamation of language, and in experiences that remain difficult to speak about.
Remembrance requires care for those living with that history. It means recognizing that September 30 can bring grief, painful memories, and questions that have remained unanswered for years.
As Kent Brown (Chief Operating/Human Resources Officer) reflects:
“I'm reflecting on this day because a lot of our families have been through hell.”
His words remind us of the personal weight behind public commemoration. For many families, this day touches the lives of parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, children, and grandchildren. Acknowledging that weight is part of treating remembrance with the seriousness it deserves.
Upholding truth and respecting survivors
Truth requires us to acknowledge what happened and resist attempts to dismiss, minimize, or cast doubt on survivors’ experiences. Survivors have shared accounts that can be deeply painful to revisit. Their testimony deserves respect. The absence of a written record does not erase a lived experience, and the responsibility for understanding this history cannot continually be placed on those who endured it.
Lindsay LeBlanc (Lawyer) speaks directly to this:
“Just because some evidence has been destroyed or has never been recorded does not change the accuracy or legitimacy of the lived experience and specifically the oral testimony of survivors who endured so much during residential schools.”
Upholding truth means taking these voices seriously. It also means recognizing the courage, persistence, and emotional cost involved in having a story heard. Danielle Morrison’s (Lawyer) words offer a clear affirmation:
“I believe you. We believe you. This history is not up for renegotiation.”
Listening without demanding
Respectful listening makes room for people to share on their own terms. No one should feel required to disclose a painful experience, revisit family trauma, or become responsible for another person’s education. Each person deserves the choice of whether, when, and how to speak.
As Jenna Goderis (Lawyer) puts it:
“They need to be supported rather than pushed.”
For those seeking to learn, that distinction matters. We can take responsibility for our own education, seek out Indigenous perspectives and survivor accounts that have been made publicly available, and listen with care when someone chooses to share. We can also examine how we respond: whether we make space, whether we interrupt, and whether we approach a conversation with a willingness to understand.
Recognizing what generations carry forward
September 30 also makes space to acknowledge the strength, love, and cultural continuity within Indigenous families and communities. Alongside the effects of trauma are teachings passed between generations, languages reclaimed, relationships nurtured, and communities supporting one another. These deserve recognition in their own right.
Speaking about what younger generations inherit, Danielle reflects:
“It's the resiliency, the strength, the love and humor, our culture, our language, all these things that have allowed us to thrive now.”
Honouring survivors includes recognizing the fullness of their lives, their contributions, and what they have sustained for those who follow them.
Carrying the responsibility beyond September 30
Wearing orange offers a visible expression of remembrance and solidarity. The responsibility continues through our choices after the day has passed. It continues when we learn the history, discuss it honestly with our children, challenge denial and minimization, and support Indigenous voices and priorities within our communities and institutions. For workplaces and organizations, it also requires reflection on everyday conduct: whose perspectives are heard, how relationships are built, and whether stated commitments are reflected in action.
Today, we honour survivors, remember the children who never returned home, and stand with the families and communities who continue to carry this history. May the care we bring to September 30 continue in how we listen, what we learn, and what we choose to do next.