CANADIANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH OF OUR SHARED HISTORY, WRITES STEPHANIE SCOTT

Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This new national day of remembrance, now in only its second year, is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn about the treatment of Indigenous Peoples in the residential school system and other colonial institutions — and the lasting harm that was done.

It is also an opportunity to reflect on how we can all play a part in healing these harms.

Canada's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation came not long after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc announced that a large gravesite had been located on the grounds of the former Kamloops residential school. This announcement, and findings across the country, has led Settler Canada to engage with the history of residential schools in a different way, allowing a new conversation to take place.

For too long, the honest truth of this shameful part of Canada's history was hidden and denied. The children were pressured not to tell their stories. Reports of abuse, neglect and suffering were ignored. In fact, significant efforts to acknowledge