Thank you. I should say good morning still.
I join you today from the original land of the Dene. I'm a member of the governing circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. I've been fortunate enough to have had many leadership roles, including serving as premier for the Northwest Territories and as president of the Dene Nation. I am also a survivor of residential schools. Most importantly, I'm a husband, a father and a grandfather.
In my lifetime, I focus on what can be accomplished when people work together, when we all engage in dialogue and form relationships based on understanding each other's life stories and commonalities as human beings. I would venture to say that a similar motivation is behind call to action 80. We are in this together, indigenous people and all Canadians, to work together co-operatively to build a better Canada. Reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem; it is a Canadian one.
I would like to convey that we are very pleased with the suggested date of September 30 as the national day for truth and reconciliation. As a survivor, I have always found September to be a difficult month, for it is when September comes that we suffer periods of feeling empty and lonely. It is because it is tied to the season when we were taken away by force from our families and our community and brought to the residential schools.
September 30 is currently Orange Shirt Day. As all of you know, it was started by Phyllis Webstad, who had been given an orange shirt by her grandmother on her first day of residential school, but it was taken away from her upon her arrival. I see this national day for truth and reconciliation as building on truth, reconciliation and healing, as initiated by Orange Shirt Day.
This national day should not be seen as a holiday. Rather, it should be seen as a day of honouring and remembering, like Remembrance Day. It should be a day to remember those students who went to residential school, those who survived and those who did not. Just as, on Remembrance Day, we like to remember people who served in wars, it's important to have a day to remember and honour survivors, to end the month in a way that recasts the negative energy experienced at the beginning of the month and turns it into an event that is healing, an event that honours the history of survivors as well as their accomplishments and contributions, which they have achieved despite adversities faced.
Ms. Scott mentioned the TRC's calls to action 81 and 82, which call for the establishment of monuments in Ottawa and other capital cities across the country. These are critically important, as they would provide the Prime Minister, indigenous leaders, survivors and elders as well as others from across the country places to gather to hold ceremonial remembrance services. We are calling upon the federal, provincial and territorial governments to begin and to continue trying to create these significant monuments.
In closing, I'd like to emphasize that commemoration, as called for by the TRC's calls to action 80, 81 and 82, as well as the numerous calls to action regarding education, can help us forge a new partnership for the future. Establishing a national day for truth and reconciliation is a very important initiative. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to convey the voices of survivors to support the important work of the committee.
Thank you.