This enactment designates the second day of June, in each and every year, as “Indian Residential School Reconciliation and Memorial Day”.

Preamble

Whereas, from 1870 to 1996, approximately 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children in Canada were removed from their families and communities to attend residential schools;

Whereas the goals of the Indian Residential School system — as stated by the Government of Canada in its Statement of Apology — to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools, delivered in the House of Commons on June 11, 2008 — were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture;

Whereas through residential schools, many children experienced neglect and suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse;

Whereas the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide states that genocide includes forcibly transferring children from one group to another group, and the actions taken to remove children from families and communities to place them in residential schools meets this definition of genocide;

Whereas it is desirable to continue the process of understanding the impact of the removal of children from their families for placement in residential schools and to promote reconciliation and the healing of wounds;

Whereas setting aside one day each year will provide an opportunity to focus on understanding and reconciliation, which involve showing respect and empathy for those who suffered as a result of the actions taken to place children in residential schools, continuing the healing of and support for survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities, reaffirming the importance of safeguarding and protecting Indigenous children from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and the importance of support for families to enable children to have optimal development and opportunities within their own families and communities, reaffirming, recognizing, and acknowledging, Indigenous peoples and governments as self-governing and sovereign, and educating all Canadians about the lessons from the Indian Residential Schools system and its continuing impacts on society;

Whereas the Parliament of Canada supports the work of reconciliation, the necessary ongoing process of truth telling and healing, and the Crown’s work with the provinces and territories, First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit to support the revitalization of Indigenous communities so as to enable Indigenous peoples to reach their full potential and to bolster efforts at reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians;

And whereas the Parliament of Canada reaffirms the importance of honouring the treaties with the Indigenous peoples of Canada and recognizes the validity and importance of these treaties in the Crown’s efforts to establish a nation-to-nation relationship, based on recognition, rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada enacts as follows: