This year’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) takes place in a troubling context.
Canada’s federal and provincial governments – faced with a tariff war and the growing influence of far-right political movements – look to be rolling back their commitments to genuine reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous rights are being undermined to fast-track corporate mega-projects including new oil pipelines and mining developments like Ontario’s Ring of Fire.
This isn’t about promoting responsible economic development where everyone has a say via free, prior, and informed consent. This is about big business and their profits being put ahead of people and the planet.
Many Indigenous communities are already facing drinking water crises and ecological devastation that these mega-projects risk exacerbating.
Once again, it will be Indigenous peoples who bear the brunt of these decisions, just as we saw with the disproportionate impact of Ontario wildfires this past summer due to the lack of core funding and advanced planning by settler governments.
These consequences do not occur in isolation. They will flow downstream, affecting us all, due to the deeply interconnected nature of our lives.
On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, OPSEU/SEFPO is calling out the hypocrisy from the Carney and Ford governments. What is the purpose of a pledge to make things right if it is immediately abandoned when times get tough?
With direction from the OPSEU/SEFPO Indigenous Circle, our union will continue to demonstrate our commitment to reconciliation by pushing for full implementation of the 94 calls to action that emerged from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
In tandem, OPSEU/SEFPO will continue to observe Orange Shirt Day and the importance of honouring survivors and victims of the devastating, multi-generational trauma caused by colonialism and the Canadian residential school system.
The last residential school closed in 1997. Even though there are no more residential schools today, the legacy lives on – especially with the Indian Act remaining as a current piece of legislation in Canada.
We will continue to show up. We will do our part to make sure that the labour movement is building just relationships and walking the right path.
Just as we did with the Grassy Narrows River Run for mercury justice this past week, OPSEU/SEFPO will continue to put our full strength and collective capacity towards demonstrating meaningful solidarity with Indigenous communities.
In solidarity,
JP Hornick and Laurie Brown (formerly Nancekivell)