Follow Us! Like Our Page!

National Aboriginal Day should be a statutory holiday – The Star

It is time to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to make National Aboriginal Day a national statutory holiday.

June 21, 2016

It seems like every page flip on my calendar reveals another “day” calling attention to one thing or another. Some of them, like National Pickle Day (Nov. 14, if you’re checking), are silly marketing gimmicks. There are also serious “days” that are effective attention-getters for raising awareness for a disease, such as World Alzheimer’s Day. Others, such as International Women’s Day and our newly minted Canadian Pride Month, provide critical moments to focus on removing barriers of inequity.

That brings us to today’s “day” – National Aboriginal Day. The federal government created it in 1996, in consultation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders, in order to celebrate the cultures and “contributions” these indigenous peoples “offer to Canada.” This notion might have been a remarkable gesture 20 years ago, but in today’s context it seems minimalist.

Read More: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/06/21/national-aboriginal-day-should-be-a-statutory-holiday.html

Loading

NationTalk Partners & Sponsors Learn More