RDOS observance of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

News Article

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) is observing National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Thursday, September 30, 2021.

The provincial government is calling on those who deliver services to the public to use this opportunity to consider what each of us can do as individuals to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and to recommit to understanding the truth of our shared history, to accept and learn from it and in doing so, help to create a better, more inclusive British Columbia.

“It’s not just a part of who we are as Survivors – it’s a part of who we are as a nation.”
– The Honourable Murray Sinclair SOURCE: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

“The RDOS Board of Directors and staff will continue working toward advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples,” says RDOS Chair Karla Kozakevich. “This requires a commitment to consult, collaborate and listen.” 

In June, the federal government announced September 30 as a new annual statutory day to commemorate the history and ongoing trauma caused by residential schools and to honour those who were lost and the survivors, families and communities who continue to grieve.

Residential schools operated in Canada for more than 160 years, with the last school closing its doors in 1996. Children were removed from their homes without consent from their parents or communities to board at residential schools, which punished the children if they practiced their language or culture.

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Karla Kozakevich, Chair
Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen

Contacts:

Erick Thompson Andrea Rendall RDOS Toll Free
RDOS Communications RDOS Communications 1-877-610-3737
250-490-4211 250-490-4147  

Did you know? The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation website provides resource links including reports and archives. National Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419

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