The London and District Labour Council Calls on the Labour Movement and Communities to Recognize the Importance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and To Take Action

The London and District Labour Council recognizes the importance of this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as we seek collectively to understand the truth of our history, and we continue to commit to reconciliation to ensure that the tragic history and ongoing legacy of residential schools is never forgotten.  The legacy of colonialism, residential schools, environmental racism, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, girls and two spirited people, continue to negatively impact Indigenous communities.

It is so vital that we make time to commemorate the lost children and the survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities.  It is also crucial that we each reflect on the legacy of residential schools and take concrete actions to identify and to eliminate structural and overt racism, as well as other forms of discrimination in our workplaces and communities.  We must strive to work for a better, more equitable future, and to pursue the collective actions from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, and to seek justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people.

We call on the Federal Government to address the harms caused by the Residential school system by immediately implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 71 through 76: Missing Children and Burial Information.  Additionally, we call on the Federal Government to immediately create a national Alert system to notify the public when an Indigenous woman, girl or two-spirited person goes missing, and to release an implementation plan for the National Action Plan, with measurable and costed steps to fulfill all of the calls for justice from the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.  We further call on both the Manitoba Government and the Federal Government to prioritize and fully fund a search of the landfills to return Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris of Long Plain First Nation, and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe to their loved ones without further delay.

We call on members and affiliates to honour survivors, their families and communities, to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools, and to continue to advance the Reconciliation process.  We urge everyone to participate in local events to show the solidarity of the London and District Labour Council, alongside our community allies and friends.

In Solidarity,
Patti Dalton
President, London and District Labour Council