The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (“Orange Shirt Day”) on September 30 is an important occasion for all who live in Canada to pay a solemn tribute to the victims and survivors of the so-called “residential school system,” which was an instrument to further the assimilationist and genocidal agenda imposed against Indigenous peoples.
The Central Executive of the Communist Party urges all our members and supporters to take part in the many in-person and online events which are being organized by Indigenous peoples on Sept. 30.
On this day, we renew our longstanding demands to implement all 94 Calls to Action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the 231 Calls for Justice contained in the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.
We welcome the declaration of Sept. 30 as a statutory federal holiday. But we also join with others to demand that provincial governments make similar declarations, so that this can truly become an annual day to remember the racist legacies of colonialism and capitalism in this country, and to mobilize powerful, united actions to struggle for justice, and for genuine equality of all nations within Canada, recognizing the right of each to self-determination, up to and including secession.
This must include meaningful adherence to the terms of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and an end to the shameful efforts by governments to pay lip service to this historic declaration while continuing to impose new fossil fuel pipelines and other resource megaprojects on the ancestral lands and waters of Indigenous peoples.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada