Righting past wrongs: Truth and reconciliation

In fact, many of your comments are featured in a series of powerful ONA Truth and Reconciliation videos on ONA’s YouTube channel. You spoke about your own experiences, the importance of educating yourselves and others, and the need for righting past wrongs. 

Here are just a few of those comments:

“Truth and reconciliation means fostering relationships with Indigenous people across the country. We can be active listeners, and learn and acknowledge the territories in which we live and the people who came before us.”

— ONA139 member Melissa Karger 

“It’s 100 per cent about education. I need to educate myself about Indigenous people, this land and where we all came from. And then I can educate others.”

— ONA105 Local Coordinator Melissa Tilly

“We need to recognize what we have done wrong in the past and correct it for the future.” 

— ONA134 Local Coordinator Char Lameront 

 “It’s about understanding people’s lived experiences and their barriers to equity and coming together to break those barriers down.”

— ONA214 Local Vice-President James Chu

 “We’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past, but if we do the work, we can make it better.”

— VON Toronto/York-Peel (ONA43) Bargaining Unit President Lorna Thompson

 “On a personal level, I listen to the concerns of people who are part of the Indigenous community, and put my money where my mouth is, supporting Indigenous-owned businesses. On a Local and union level, we need to reach out to the employee resource groups that exist – my hospital has an Indigenous employee resource group – asking them what their concerns are and how we can support them. And on a provincial level, we need to support legislation that addresses their concerns, so we can enact change.”

— ONA139 member Jaclyn Kruisselbrink 

As you continue on your own journey towards truth and reconciliation, we encourage you to view these member videos, along with dynamic explanation from ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss on how ONA is taking action.