How the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation resonates

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How the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation resonates

My hope is that The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation will become a day of “recollection” to consider publicly and personally what the development of Canada has cost the Indigenous, Metis and Inuit people of this land.  Like Remembrance Day, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation can become a day when people are informed about the history of the inequities and violations that occurred in Canada’s early days and how marginalization and interference with the First Peoples of this land continued to be Canadian policy for decades.  The Day offers opportunities for public rituals of sorrow, acknowledgement, and solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Most importantly the Day will foster the reversal of attitudes and social structures that perpetuate distrust, dislike and hostility among the many peoples who have come to know Canada as their home and who want to live from the Truth that we are all equally beloved of God our Creator and that we are called to practice a Reconciliation that will change our future.

By Mark Blom, OMI