City of Toronto to observe Sept. 30 as educational opportunity, not stat holiday

The Justin Trudeau government passed legislation proclaiming the date a public holiday, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

Torontosun.com
Sept. 13, 2021
Antonella Artuso

The City of Toronto will observe the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30 with educational programming, a proclamation and the lighting of the iconic Toronto sign orange.

But unlike federally regulated workers, city staff will not be given a statutory holiday.

A memo by city manager Chris Murray issued Friday explains why this choice was made.

“The City of Toronto is strongly committed to strengthening relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Metis people and advancing truth, reconciliation and justice,” Murray said. “Accordingly, we sought guidance from urban Indigenous leaders and community members on the best way for the city to commemorate this critically important day of reckoning.

“We received overwhelming support for the city to observe the new federal holiday by focusing on educational events and opportunities for staff to engage in.”

The Justin Trudeau government passed legislation proclaiming Sept. 30 as a public holiday, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

Federal public servants and those employees who work in federally regulated industries like television and banking have been given the stat holiday.

However, most workers are employed in industries that are provincially regulated and Ontario has not followed the federal lead. The province noted that “employers and employees may agree to treat this day as such, and some may be required to do so if it has been negotiated into collective agreements or employment contracts.”

In Alberta, the City of Calgary has chosen to make Sept. 30 a public holiday for its workers.

Murray said that while staff members will be expected to work that day, they will be given time to attend learning events.

“Although this is not a paid day off for all city staff, we recognize that Indigenous staff may wish to take the day off to attend ceremonies, events or to commemorate the day with their families,” he said. “We ask divisions to accommodate such requests and not require Indigenous employees to use their vacation, lieu or other banks to take this day off.

“The recent discovery of the remains of Indigenous children who died at residential schools is a reminder of the atrocities that colonization has visited on Indigenous peoples,” Murray added.