Manitoba NDP call on government to make Orange Shirt Day a statutory holiday
The Manitoba NDP party is urging the premier to pass a bill that would see Sept. 30, also known as Orange Shirt Day, become a statutory holiday in the province.
Ian Bushie, NDP critic for Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations, said Premier Heather Stefanson needs to do more than just say the right thing and make sure all Manitobans can partake in Orange Shirt Day with their loved ones.
“On September 30, Manitobans from all walks of life came together to honour Survivors and the children who never made it home, but not everyone was able to fully participate in learning and healing that day because the PCs refused to make it a statutory holiday,” Bushie said in a news release.
In 2017, NDP Leader Wab Kinew passed Bill 223 to mark Sept. 30 as Orange Shirt Day – a day meant to honour residential school survivors.
Kinew contacted former premier Brian Pallister and interim premier Kelvin Goertzen to make the day a statutory holiday, but nothing ever came of this.
In September 2021, the Manitoba government announced it would observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. Schools and non-essential government services and offices were closed. However, it was not mandated as a statutory holiday.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is recognized as a federal statutory holiday on Sept. 30.
CTV News Winnipeg has reached out to the province for comment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.