Update: October 4, 2024, 12:27 p.m.
The Meadow Lake Tribal Council held a media conference today, calling for the Saskatchewan Justice Unit and the provincial government to take immediate action after two justice workers were sent home for wearing orange on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“To have your own workers in your court system sent home, what does that show to our people going through the system who aren’t in their employment? With that, province of Saskatchewan, we need to work together to make this better for our kids, make it a better place to grow up,” said MLTC Tribal Chief, Jeremy Norman.
On September 30, two women working for the Meadow Lake Justice Unit, whose names are not being released, came to work wearing orange shirts. The women were sent home—one of whom is a residential school survivor.
“It’s unacceptable that a provincial justice system, a system that exists to serve fairness, truth, and equality, refuses to recognize the importance of orange shirt day. Orange Shirt Day is not just a symbolic gesture; it represents a critical commitment to reconciliation and confronting Canada’s dark history; it’s a history of cultural genocide, forced assimilation, and the horrific legacy of residential schools,” stated 4th Vice Chief of the FSIN, Craig McCallum.
Along with requesting the Meadow Lake Justice Unit to address the incident and allow workers to wear orange on September 30, MLTC is also calling on the provincial government to mark the day as a provincial holiday for all.
“It’s a disgrace and an embarrassment that out of all the provinces and territories across this country, only two regions have refused to recognize Orange Shirt Day as a statutory holiday, and I’m embarrassed that Saskatchewan is one of them and the other jurisdiction is Ontario that doesn’t recognize it, yet we had the highest amount of residential schools in the entire country,” explained 1st Vice Chief of the FSIN, David Pratt.
There were no provincial government leaders in attendance at the media conference today, and there have been no releases from the province or the Saskatchewan Justice Unit on the matter.
October 3, 2024, 8:45 a.m.
The Meadow Lake Tribal Council is speaking out after justice workers was sent home this week for wearing orange on Truth and Reconciliation Day.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day established to raise awareness and foster reconciliation over the harms of the residential school system.
While the day is a federally regulated holiday, the Province of Saskatchewan has not yet established the day as a provincial holiday.
The Tribal Council says the two women, who work for the Saskatchewan Justice Unit in Meadow Lake, were sent home for wearing Orange to work on that day – one of whom was a residential school survivor.
“Sending these workers home for wearing orange is not only a denial of the deeply rooted and painful history being recognized but also an egregious disregard for the progress the country is striving to make in understanding and healing from this past,” said MLTC Tribal Chief Jeremy Norman. “This action undermines the importance of acknowledging survivours and honouring their courage and resilience”
The tribal council is now calling on the justice unit to take immediate action and the provincial government to make the day a provincial holiday for all.
“Sending them home was like silencing their voices,” said MLTC Vice-Chief Richard Derocher. “It’s a reminder of how much work still needs to be done for real change to happen.”
A press conference hosted by the Meadow Lake Tribal Council on the matter is scheduled for Friday.