East Toronto ceremony planned on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

East Toronto residents are invited to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at a ceremony planned for today.

Sept. 30 is designated as Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in order to acknowledge the history of the residential school system and to foster learning, reflecting, and commemorating both the survivors and the children who never returned home.

Today’s local ceremony is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at Kempton Howard Park on Blake Street in East Toronto.

Those attending are encouraged to bring their own blankets, water, and a five-dollar donation, as they join organizers around the fire to learn more about the impacts of the residential school system and colonialism on Canada’s Indigenous population. Today’s event is organized by the Blake Street Junior Public School Parent Council and local First Nations Knowledge Keepers.

Participants are also encouraged to wear orange shirts in honour of residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad; a six-year-old Indigenous girl whose orange shirt was confiscated when she attended a church-run school in Williams Lake, B.C. in 1973.

For more information on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, please go to https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html