Manitoba NDP says it would make Orange Shirt Day a statutory holiday if elected

Sherry Starr and Wab Kinew lead the grand entrance at the second annual Orange Shirt Day Survivors Walk and Pow Wow on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, Friday, September 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Manitoba New Democrats are promising to make the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a statutory holiday in the province next year if they win Tuesday's election.

Leader Wab Kinew says Manitobans should be able to participate, if they choose, in honouring and commemorating residential school survivors and the children who never made it home.

The federal government made Sept. 30 a statutory holiday for its workers and for federally regulated workplaces in 2021.

Other parts of Canada, including British Columbia and Yukon, have also made the day, more commonly known as Orange Shirt Day, a statutory holiday.

Manitoba's Progressive Conservatives have said they were consulting with business groups and Indigenous leaders on the idea but have yet to say whether the day would become a statutory holiday if they are re-elected.

The Manitoba Liberals say they would implement the holiday within their first year in office if they form government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2023.