National Day of Truth and Reconciliation MessageÂ
As a non-Indigenous person, I try to approach reconciliation with humility, intention and a willingness to hear, learn about and sit with difficult truths bravely and generously told by Indigenous people. For me, reconciliation means opening my mind and heart to truths about the negative generational impacts that the arrival of settlers, including my ancestors, had and continue to have on Indigenous peoples in this place we now call Canada.
It also means learning about the Indigenous histories, cultures and knowledge of the Indigenous Nations on whose traditional territories my family and I have chosen to call home, even if that process can sometimes feel uncomfortable because I know so little and I have so much to learn.
On this first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I commit to continuing to learn about the legacy of colonialism on Indigenous peoples in Canada, and in particular the impacts of residential schools. This is my commitment because, to me, truth is the soil in which the seeds of reconciliation can grow.
Sarah Heiberg
Associate Director, Change Management for the New Vic Project
