For those who don’t live under the Dominion of Canada institutions, or don’t live in Ottawa, here is a link to a video of NDTR and Orange Shirt Day events downtown.
These are two events that have ended up merged, but it is useful to know how they have distinct origin stories
Orange Shirt Day was launched in 2013 by First Nations peoples themselves
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation pronounced by the Government of Canada (Bill C-5, 2021) as the federal government response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC)
Call to Action 80 reads:
We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.
I am willing to discuss if there are actual questions, to help take any load off of survivors or other targeted populations.
But please don’t engage if you are confused about the different concepts of homicide (individual vs individual, even if more than one individual involved) and genocide (against a peoples/genos). Whether intended or not (ignorance is deliberate or not), you likely will be engaging in genocide denialism if you don’t understand the difference. Please understand that difference first before trying to understand any specific set of genocidal policies.
I am not my body! Understanding genos (Greek) vs homo (Latin)
Some previous years I have written a Happy New year message, including last year. In March I wrote about some of the changes since I turned 50 in 2018, and I have been continuing the learning process this year.
There is a specific variation of genocide denialism asking for a specific accounting of individual humans bodies (as if this related to a criminal investigation by the police against an individual) that makes absolutely no sense in the context of genocide (where police forces aren’t collecting evidence of crimes, but tasked by the government to help carry out the crimes. This includes, but is not limited to, the specific well documented genocidal policies of Residential Schools).
Should you be upset at individual police officers who support the "Thin Blue Line" concept?
The concept of the "Thin Blue Line" comes up regularly.