URFA Supports Orange Shirt Day 2019

September 30, 2019

Every year on Sep­tem­ber 30, Cana­di­ans from coast to coast wear orange to hon­our and com­mem­o­ratesur­vivors of the res­i­den­tial school sys­tem and to remem­ber the dam­ag­ing effects that the federalgovernment’s act of forc­ing indige­nous chil­dren into res­i­den­tial schools has had on indige­nous­com­mu­ni­ties that are still felt to this day.

The annu­al Orange Shirt Day cam­paign began in 2013 in Williams Lake, B.C., inspired by a sto­ry told byPhyl­lis Web­stad, a res­i­den­tial school sur­vivor. On her first day at St. Joseph Mis­sion res­i­den­tial school,an orange shirt bought for her by her grand­moth­er was tak­en away from her by school officials.

Orange Shirt Day is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for all of us to rec­og­nize and dis­cuss the harm­ful impacts tha­tres­i­den­tial schools have had and the lega­cy they con­tin­ue to leave behind. It is an oppor­tu­ni­ty to lis­ten­to the sto­ries of sur­vivors, recom­mit to the process of rec­on­cil­i­a­tion, and rec­og­nize that every childmatters.

URFA is once again join­ing oth­er unions, Indige­nous com­mu­ni­ties, gov­ern­ments and com­mu­ni­ties torec­og­nize orange shirt day this Mon­day, Sep­tem­ber 30. We ask URFA mem­bers to please join us inre­mem­ber­ing those who were and con­tin­ue to be impact­ed by the res­i­den­tial school sys­tem here inSaskatchewan and across Canada.

Learn more and get addi­tion­al resources on the Orange Shirt Day web­site.