National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The federal government recently passed legislation that marks the 30th of September as a federal holiday called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day provides an opportunity for each individual and institution to recognize and commemorate the legacy and contemporary impact of residential schools. It's expected that this presents itself as a day of quiet reflection or participation in community events.

As you may also be aware, the government of Ontario has chosen not to make this day a statutory holiday in this province. That means the university will still be open. But this also means that we have an opportunity to mark this day in important ways. The university is engaging in impactful conversations and reconciling with its own past and participation in the residential school system.

What this means for each of us, is that we can meaningfully mark this day through:

• Participating in Events that recognize Orange Shirt Day
• Reading  (PDF file) Ryerson's Community Consultation Summary Report
• Finding out what Orange Shirt Day is and means (external link) 
• Reading something great from Indigenous authors (external link)  
• Listening to a podcast made by Indigenous People  (external link)  
• Getting familiar with the APTN (external link) 
• Checking out these 9 Indigenous artists (external link)  
• Reading Canada's residential schools: the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (external link) 
• Reading  (PDF file) The Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action  (external link) 
• Finding personal acts of reconciliation (external link) 

We encourage everyone to find ways to learn, grow and participate in reconciliation.