Canadians observed the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, also known as Orange Shirt Day, to honour the children who never returned from residential schools and to recognize Survivors, their families and communities. Events took place across Newfoundland and Labrador, including St. John’s, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador West and Corner Brook. At Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River leaders opened the day with a lighting of the sacred flame; Colleen Lambert, the First Nations director of tourism, culture and recreation, said the ceremony helps reaffirm that every child matters and that the community will remember those children until it cannot. Shirley Flowers, originally from Rigolet, recounted being sent as a child to the Yale School in North West River and described the multigenerational impacts on her family when relatives were taken. CBC News scheduled special programming titled Remembering the Children, a 90-minute live broadcast from Parliament Hill beginning at 1:30 p.m. NT, as part of national commemorations. The observances combined local ceremonies, personal testimony and national media coverage to mark the day and keep attention on residential school legacies.
