By Canadian Press

MPs move to fast-track bill creating national day for truth and reconciliation

May 28, 2021 | 12:31 PM

OTTAWA — Federal lawmakers are fast-tracking legislation to create a national day for truth and reconciliation.

In a Liberal motion, MPs moved unanimously to wrap debate on Bill C-5 and deem it passed by day’s end, sending it to the Senate.

The legislation would establish a new statutory holiday to commemorate the victims and survivors of Indigenous residential schools.

The move comes a day after a First Nation in British Columbia confirmed discovery of the remains of 215 children buried in unmarked graves on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops.

The bill follows a similar one introduced by the NDP in 2017 that foundered in the Senate two years later.

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The statutory holiday, which would apply to federally regulated workers, is set for Sept. 30.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has said the bill marks a step toward righting past wrongs associated with the residential school system, which he deemed a “national tragedy borne by colonialism and propelled by systematic racism.”

Green MP Jenica Atwin teared up during third-reading debate Friday, tracing a direct line between the legacy of colonialism and the myriad challenges facing Indigenous people today.

Bill C-5 will help bring awareness to “the horrors of the past,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2021.

The Canadian Press