National Day for Truth and Reconciliation should be statutory holiday, First Nations MPP says

A First Nations MPP says the Ontario government should have made the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a statutory holiday.

"If the government fails to properly acknowledge the theft of thousands of our children, that is part of the problem. They are the problem," NDP MPP Sol Mamakwatold CBC's Ottawa Morning.

Mamakwa says he believes most Ontarians want to be "on the right side of history," and Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Indigenous Affairs Greg Rickford made a "mistake" not following through on residents' wishes.

The Kingfisher Lake band memberrepresentsthe majority First Nationsriding of Kiiwetinoongin northwestern Ontario.

The commemorative day is only one step in the "enormous amount of work" governments need to do to achieve reconciliation, Mamakwa said.

In a statement issued after Ontario's announcement that it would not mark the day with a statutory holiday, Mamakwa's party backed him up.

"It's shameful that the Doug Ford government is refusing the solemn duty to remember, to learn, and to work for change," said Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in the statement.

The province has saidemployers and employees may choose to treat the day one of the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a holiday, and some may be required to ifit'sbeen negotiated into collective agreements or employment contracts.

Day to reflect and acknowledge

Mamakwa attended Stirland Lake Residential School for two years in the mid-1980s. It closed shortly after he attended.

It's not something he talks about much and he says that's a survival mechanism.

"You don't talk about it. I never did talk about it. For me, it was just a way to survive. It was a way to keep going," Mamakwa said.

He says this day is a chance for people in Ontario to reflect on "the wounds that Indigenous people have gone through."

• How to mark the 1st National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Ottawa

For far too long, Canadians, governments and institutions have denied the truth, Mamakwa said.While he didn't know what to expect when he went to Stirland Lake at age 13, Mamakwa said that in the years since he's begun to understand the system.

"They take away access to your parents, your language, way of life, and identity," he said. "I believe that one of the greatest wound of wounds for Indigenous people that went to residential school was taking our spirituality."

"That was the intent of those schools and I did not know that. This is not a mistake. This is exactly how they're supposed to operate," Mamakwa added.

On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,Mamakwa is asking Ontariansto mourn for the childrenforcibly takenfrom their families and to confront the racism and oppression that continues to happen.

"We still live it. We still see it."

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools, and for those who are triggered by these reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for residential school survivors and others affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.