Hard truths and the duty to remember, to do better on the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

This day of commemoration, on Sept. 30, will not be enough. It should not obscure, nor absolve, nor even ease our conscience. The day should be used for reflection, dialogue, sharing, awareness, education, and action.

During her visit in Iqaluit in 2006, former goveror general Michaëlle Jean shakes hands with Natsiq Kango, as Nunavut’s commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson watches. We stand in solidarity, holding our hearts to those who survived an ordeal of such harrowing magnitude that one can’t emerge unscathed, forever carrying the scars and the trauma, Ms. Jean writes. Photograph courtesy of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation

Opinion

BY MICHAëLLE JEAN

September 30, 2021

On this National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, we come together. We join our voices to say that we can’t stop thinking about the children who never returned home after leaving for residential schools, children who died from...

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