CMHA NS Honours National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Oct 3, 2022

September 30 will be the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

This day is a time to reflect and act upon our responsibilities to dismantle the systemic racism and colonialism that continues to impact Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia Division is committed to working as allies with Indigenous mental health organizations to advocate for increased funding for Indigenous-led mental health services to advance reconciliation and to better support Indigenous communities.

We recognize that systemic racism and colonialism continue to permeate our system of mental health care in this country. We are working to set new standards within our organization that seek to fully implement the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and particularly those calls for Indigenous mental health, healing and well-being.

We know that change begins from within.

We must take steps to recognize the racist and colonial ways of thinking and working within our organization. We are committed to decolonizing our own practices and establishing new anti-racist and anti-oppressive ways of working.

It is not possible to grapple with or meaningfully recognize the systemic change we want to see and contribute to for Indigenous Peoples in Canada for one day a year.

Not just today, but every day, CMHA NS Division commits to a journey of learning, healing and reconciliation to address the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

We commit to creating communities and systems that recognize and value Indigenous voices and rights.

CMHA NS Division fully supports the calls to action that the TRC published in its substantial 2015 report calling on the Government of Canada to advance its commitment to reconciliation.

• [READ THE 94 CALLS TO ACTION]
• [READ THE TRC ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATE]
• [READ CMHA NATIONAL’S Open letter to the federal government]

To promote the well-being and mental health of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, the TRC recommended that the Government of Canada, and those in the health sector:

• establish measurable goals, in consultation with Indigenous communities, to identify and close the gaps in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and to publish annual progress reports and assess long-term trends, (with specific mental health indicators);
• provide sustainable funding for existing and new Indigenous healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual harms caused by residential schools;
• recognize the value of Indigenous healing practices and use them in the treatment of Indigenous patients;
• increase the number of Indigenous professionals working in the health-care field, ensure the retention of Indigenous health-care providers in Indigenous communities, and provide cultural competency training for all healthcare professionals;
• take action on the calls to work with Indigenous communities to identify, document, maintain, commemorate, and protect residential school cemeteries, to provide the TRC with all records of the deaths of Indigenous children in residential schools, establish a National Residential School Student Death Register, and to respond to families’ wishes for appropriate commemoration ceremonies, markers, or reburials where requested.

DID YOU KNOW: October is Mi’kmaq History Month