09/30/2026
September 30, 2026 | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
THIS MOMENT HAS STAYED WITH ME
During the pandemic, we held our Remembrance Day ceremony outside the Chatham Armoury. As I researched and wrote the ceremony, I learned more about the thousands of Indigenous people who served alongside other Canadians in times of war. They fought beside them. They sacrificed beside them. Some never came home. Yet many served a country that did not afford them the same rights and freedoms as others.
I remember looking at the stage that day and seeing Judy Peters standing there with the Walpole Island flag among the other flags.
That moment stayed with me.
There is something powerful about acknowledging what was missing before and saying: You matter. Your history matters. Your sacrifice matters.
Maybe that is part of what today asks of us too.
We cannot change what happened. We cannot undo residential schools or return the childhoods, languages, traditions, families and lives that were taken. But we can tell the truth.
We can acknowledge where we were wrong. We can listen to the voices and stories that were ignored or silenced. And we can learn from our history so we refuse to repeat it.
To me, reconciliation isn’t about carrying shame for something we personally did not do. It is about accepting the responsibility we have today because now we know.
And when we know better, we have the opportunity to choose differently.
Today I honour the children who never came home, the Survivors who did, their families and the generations who continue to carry the impact.
May we have the courage to face what was wrong, the humility to keep listening and learning, and the wisdom to ensure the mistakes of our past do not become the mistakes of our future.
Every child matters. Yesterday. Today. Always.🧡