MEDIA ADVISORY - Pow Wow at Queen's Park will call for Indigenous Day statutory holiday
TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Indigenous activists and their allies will gather on the south lawn of Queen's Park Thursday for a Circle of Reconciliation Pow Wow at which time they will call on the provincial government to set aside June 21, National Indigenous Day, as an annual statutory holiday.
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Date: |
Thursday September 21, 2017 |
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Time: |
12 noon to 5 p.m. |
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Location: |
South Lawn, Queen's Park, Toronto |
The event represents a collaborative effort between members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Indigenous Circle and Indigenous activists representing various communities across Ontario. Together, the groups have established The OPSEU Indigenous Circle June 21 Campaign Circle of Reconciliation.
NDP MPP Michael Mantha is scheduled to table a private member's bill on Thursday September 21. The bill, titled the "Indigenous Day Act ? A Path to Truth and Reconciliation," will call on the government to declare June 21 a statutory holiday in Ontario.
The designation of a special day of recognition would be in accordance with Recommendation 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report, which stated, in part, that the federal government should, "in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation."
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said the union endorses a fixed statutory holiday in Ontario. "Ontario can lead this effort by joining with the Northwest Territories and the Yukon as the only two Canadian jurisdictions which have already declared June 21 a statutory holiday," he said.
The September 21 Pow Wow will begin with a grand entrance on the front lawn of the legislative grounds at noon and will continue until 5 p.m. Participants will be welcomed by Chief R. Stacey Laforme of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, on whose traditional territory millions of Ontarians reside. The Pow Wow is a non-partisan event and MPPs from all parties have been invited to attend as a gesture of solidarity with Ontario's Indigenous peoples.
SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)
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