Show every child matters with Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Brampton

Brampton residents can wear their support of the Indigenous community on their sleeves with Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this weekend.

Saturday (Sept. 30) marks the third-annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, honouring the First Nations, Inuit and Méti survivors of Canada’s residential school system, the children who never returned home, as well as their families and communities.

Sept. 30 is also known as Orange Shirt Day, a sombre day for reflection on the impact and intergenerational trauma Canada’s residential schools caused Indigenous families and nations.

With the slogan of “Every Child Matters,” the Indigenous-led grassroots initiative is now in its 10th year raising awareness of the long-lasting impacts of residential schools, with the orange shirt a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

The roots of Orange Shirt Day come from Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a student at St. Joseph Mission Residential School, who had a new orange shirt bought by her grandmother taken from her on her first day of school at six years old.

An Every Child Matters flag was in Ken Whillans Square on Wednesday in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, and residents looking to commemorate Orange Shirt Day can purchase shirts from 9:30 am to 1 pm at Garden Square on Thursday.

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The city says proceeds from orange shirt sales will be donated to local Indigenous organizations in the Region of Peel. To learn more about Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation visit www.orangeshirtday.org or www.brampton.ca.

This morning, Members of Council and the community gathered in Ken Whillans Square at #Brampton City Hall to raise the Every Child Matters flag and commemorate and honour the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.

Tomorrow, from 9:30… pic.twitter.com/Iyru1auGZc

— City of Brampton (@CityBrampton) September 27, 2023