Members of New Westminster city council were sporting matching attire at Monday’s council meeting.
Council members joined other community members in wearing orange T-shirts on Sept. 30 in support of Orange Shirt Day, which is held to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation.
“I know all of my colleagues and many people in the audience and community are wearing orange shirts today. This really is a day to recognize a painful part of our history in Canada and the province of British Columbia, that of residential schools,” Mayor Jonathan Cote said at Monday’s meeting. “I think it’s a regular reminder and an important reminder of the devastation that those schools caused to our Indigenous population.”
Every Orange Shirt Day, Cote uses the day as an opportunity to engage in conversation with his daughters about the impact of residential schools and how it impacted so many communities and so many children.
