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SEPTEMBER 30 IS THE NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION AND ORANGE SHIRT DAY
September 30, 2022 marks the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. On this day, we encourage pharmacy professionals in British Columbia to reflect on the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples, and what you can do within both your personal and professional lives to help address and dismantle Indigenous-specific racism in Canada.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an opportunity to recognize and commemorate the intergenerational harm caused by residential schools and to honour the Indigenous families and communities who continue to experience this trauma today.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, ‘reconciliation’ is an ongoing individual and collective process of establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. For that to happen, there must be awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to create meaningful change.
“This is not about the survivors specifically or only. It’s also not about the history of residential schools…It’s about reconciliation and the fact that Canada has to make a concerted effort to maintain a process of reconciliation into the future.”
- Sen. Murray Sinclair on the establishment of a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
On September 30, the College asks all health professionals to reflect on and learn about the enduring impacts of residential schools and Indigenous-specific racism in Canada. We encourage you to use this opportunity to ask what you can do to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples by reflecting on the broader social issues faced by Indigenous peoples and by better understanding the historical contexts from which these issues originate.
Additionally, while reflecting on the history and legacy of residential schools is a vitally important component of reconciliation, it is only one step toward improving Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples.
As health professionals, it is important that we begin our own processes of reconciliation by acknowledging the generational trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples and the problems it continues to present in many contemporary Canadian healthcare settings.
ORANGE SHIRT DAY
September 30 has also been designated as Orange Shirt Day in recognition of the harmful legacy that Canada’s residential school system has left on generations of Indigenous families and their communities. The date was chosen because it is the time of year during which First Nations children were taken from their homes and put into residential schools.
Started by Phyllis Webstad, the first Orange Shirt Day took place on September 30, 2013 in Williams Lake. The “orange shirt” refers to the new shirt that Phyllis was given by her grandmother for her first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia.
Orange shirt day, much like the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is an opportunity for all Canadians to honour Residential School Survivors, their families and communities; and to stand-up against racism, bullying and unethical treatment in all facets of Canadian society, from education to health care.
Wear an orange shirt to show your support and to help create awareness of the individual, family and inter-generational impacts of Residential Schools in Canada.
Indigenous Cultural Safety, Humility & Anti-racism Standard of Practice
The College of Pharmacists of BC, alongside eleven other BC health profession regulatory colleges, has adopted the Indigenous Cultural Safety, Humility, & Anti-racism Practice Standard. The Standard sets clear expectations for BC pharmacy professionals on the provision of culturally safe and anti-racist care for Indigenous patients and clients.
The development of the Standard comes in response to Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s December 2020 report: In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care.
The report found that “requirements for cultural safety and humility and addressing Indigenous-specific racism are not adequately embedded throughout policy and standards,” and goes on to recommend the implementation of standards, definitions and expectations requiring health services to be free from all forms of racism and discrimination against Indigenous peoples.
The adoption of the Standard will be marked with a blanketing ceremony on September 30, 2022, as part of Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The College acknowledges that we are still very much at the beginning of our journey toward dismantling Indigenous-specific racism within our healthcare system. The implementation of this practice standard is by no means a conclusion. Moving forward, the College will continue to engage with Indigenous peoples to ensure that this standard is adequately and effectively addressing the challenges they face when accessing pharmacy and other health services.
The Indigenous Cultural Safety, Humility & Anti-Racism Practice Standard was approved by the College Board on September 23, 2022 and is now in effect.
To learn more about the Practice Standard, as well as the College’s journey toward cultural safety and humility, please visit:
Bcpharmacists.org/CulturalSafetyAndHumility
BEGIN YOUR OWN JOURNEY OF TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION BY EXPLORING THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES:
As we continue to move toward a more culturally safe health system that is free of racism and discrimination, we all must embark on our own journeys to learn about and reflect on the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and British Columbia and to find ways that each of us as individuals can address and ultimately dismantle Indigenous-specific racism within our society.
Explore the following resources and learn how you can help make our health system more culturally safe:
- Dismantle Racism in Health Care: First Anniversary Report from Health-System Leaders
- BCCNM Learning Resources – Cultural Safety and Humility
- CPSBC – Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility and Anti-racism Learning Resources
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: 94 Calls to Action (June 2015)
- Learn about Phyllis (Jack) Webstad's story and the origin of Orange Shirt Day
- About National Indigenous Peoples Day (Government of Canada)
- San’Yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Course
- Truth and Reconciliation report
- In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care
- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
- Principles respecting the Government of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Declaration of Cultural Safety and Humility in Health Services Delivery for First Nations and Aboriginal Peoples in BC
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
- Health Inequalities and Social Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples' Health report
- #IndigenousReads Reading List
- National Indigenous Peoples Day (Government of Canada)
- First Nations, Inuit and Metis Learning Portal (Government of Canada)
- Cultural Safety and Humility