Truth & Reconciliation

September 30, 2021, marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the lost children and survivors of Residential Schools, their families and communities. The creation of this federal statutory holiday was through legislative amendments made by Parliament. On June 3, 2021, Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) received Royal Assent.

In observance of this day, the Cathedral office with be closed. The Cathedral community and wider church are invited to join us for Morning, Midday, and Evening Prayer on FaceBook and our YouTube channel at the following times:

8:00am: Morning Prayer with Sean Hopperton
12noon: Midday Prayer with Canon Stephen
6:00pm: Evening Prayer with Archbishop Mark MacDonald (National Indigenous Archbishop), Dean Stephen, Canon Stephen & Deacon Claire

As well, a recorded service from the Anglican Church of Canada is available for parishes to mark September 30 as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. Visit www.anglican.ca/orangeshirtday to find this video, as well as links to a few more resources.

In addition to the resources available below, we suggest reading The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King and watching the film The Doctrine of Discovery which you can find on the Anglican Church of Canada’s website here.

Now that the government has declared September 30 as National Day for  Truth and Reconciliation, we will not be silencing our bells each Wednesday after that date. Moving forward, we will silence the bells on dates throughout the year that are oriented toward Truth & Reconciliation and Canada’s Indigenous persons. A list of resources that provide opportunities to pray, learn and act will continue to be available on our website.

• We suggest you look for the movie “We Were Children”; you can watch it on YouTube here, on your streaming site, or through the library.
• We direct you to The Anglican Church of Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation page, where you can see official documents as well as The Anglican Church of Canada response: Truth and Reconciliation – The Anglican Church of Canada 
• We encourage you to read any Truth and Reconciliation Commission findings, reports and documents you might find helpful at www.https://nctr.ca
• The Anglican Church of Canada has been working with Indigenous persons toward self-determination for Indigenous Anglicans. To find out that this means please watch this video, which was released last week: https://youtu.be/Saem1myKDxg
• We encourage you to learn more and make a donation to support residential school survivors at https://legacyofhope.ca/
• We encourage you to consider visiting some of the Indigenous culture and heritage sites in Ontario either in-person or virtually listed at www.ontario.ca/page/indigenous-culture-and-history-along-transcanada-trail
• Read the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, especially the “Calls for Justice”: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
• Watch The Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts, to learn about the impact of the Doctrine of Discovery in Canada: https://www.anglican.ca/primate/tfc/drj/doctrineofdiscovery/
• Read the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples:           https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
• Listen to the Residential Schools Podcast, created by Historica Canada and hosted by Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools-podcast-series
• Following the lead of Archbishop Mark MacDonald, spend (at least!) this week praying the daily prayers in the “Disciples Prayer Book” and learning about Gospel-Based Discipleship: https://www.anglican.ca/im/introgbd/