Dear Chamber Family,

I think everyone feels the heartfelt sorrow on the recent discovery of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Words cannot effectively express the deep sadness of this finding, especially because this is just the beginning process to find the truth about what happened there and other residential schools across the country. Part of this process is to find ways to honour the children and their families.

It's on each of us to become educated and aware of our history and the responsibility we all have towards truth & reconciliation for our indigenous family. I hope we take this time to have these conversations with our co-workers, friends, children, partners ...and ourselves.

Most Sincerely,
Ritu
Resources

Read:
  • Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Office of the Chief's press release on this tragedy, click here
  • How to support the community of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, click here
  • Names of 1000s of children who were known to have died at Residential Schools. It's likely that the 215 children from Kamloops are not on this list, click here
  • 94 Calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, click here
  • BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), click here
  • BC Chamber's policy resolution recently passed and supported by our Chamber, underlining the importance of the BC business community acting on DRIPA, click here
  • Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee, click here
  • BC Chamber of Commerce’s press release on this tragedy, click here

Listen:
  • Chief Harley Chappell of the Semiahmoo First Nation speaking at the Chamber's Community Town Hall on Diversity, Racism, and Inclusion on June 12, 2020 (included here with the Chief's permission), click here
  • Stories of individual indigenous people who survived residential schools, click here

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