Brock Township will hold a flag ceremony in Cannington as part of this year’s Brock Truth and Reconciliation observance, while libraries and regional partners offer additional learning opportunities.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day are Wednesday, September 30. The day honours residential-school Survivors and intergenerational Survivors and remembers the children who never returned home.
Brock Township acknowledges that the municipality is within the Williams Treaties territory and on lands of the Mississaugas and Chippewas.
Flag ceremony planned in Cannington
Residents are invited to join council for a flag ceremony at noon on September 30 at the Brock Municipal Building in Cannington. Participants are encouraged to wear orange.
Township facilities will be closed that day. Brock says the closure will allow staff to reflect, honour Survivors and their families, and learn about the continuing impacts of residential schools.
The municipality’s notice also points residents to the Durham Region Walk for Reconciliation on September 18 at 10 a.m. A Durham Region Transit bus featuring artwork by Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation artists Jon Colwell, Sharifah Marsden and Luke Swinson will honour Orange Shirt Day and the Every Child Matters movement.
Library discussion scheduled for September 26
Brock Libraries selected Wab Kinew’s memoir The Reason You Walk for its September book club. Copies are available at the Sunderland branch, with a community discussion scheduled for Saturday, September 26 at 10 a.m.
The township also lists other Durham events, including an Ajax gathering and sign unveiling on September 30 and an orange-ribbon memorial at Whitby Public Library’s Central Library through October 6.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission’s final report contains 94 calls to action addressing the legacy of residential schools and advancing reconciliation.
People affected by the residential-school system can access the 24-hour National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.
