City of Hamilton to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day

The City of Hamilton will commemorate Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30.

The City “will be doing activities for that day,” says the City of Hamilton’s senior project manager for urban Indigenous strategy Shelly Hill. Hill states the activities will be online, “we’re working with the Hamilton Public Library.”

The new federal holiday responds to the call by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission to “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.”

September 30 will be a paid holiday for federally regulated employees. It is not a provincial holiday.

Hill says the HAMILTON sign in front of City Hall will be lit orange, there will be staff lunch and learn documentaries, and promotion of the holiday “shared by the Mayor and Council as well as through [the City’s] Twitter and various social media sites.”