British News Agency

Marking September 30, the “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” (Orange Shirt Day), Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney commemorated Indigenous children who died in the residential church school system and expressed solidarity with survivors and their families.

Carney recalled that for more than a century, over 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were separated from their families and cultures and forcibly sent to these schools under assimilation policies. He stressed that the Canadian state bears full responsibility for the deep and lasting harm caused by the system established and maintained by the federal government.

Carney said survivors were owed not only remembrance but concrete action. He said the government would continue to pursue the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action with determination, including addressing inequalities in health and education, protecting Indigenous languages, ensuring access to clean drinking water and infrastructure, and delivering justice for missing Indigenous people. He also called on all Canadians to support the reconciliation process.