We are saddened and stand with our Indigenous sisters and brothers as they grieve yet another atrocity. 751 unmarked graves of lives gone without a proper and respectful burial. And we are left to ask – how can this happen? Children stolen from their families suffered unspeakable atrocities right until the bitter end. The grim discovery of 751 unmarked graves near the former Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan opens old wounds that have barely begun to heal in the Indigenous community with the recent discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops, British Columbia.

We know these lives and the 4100 other children recognized by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as having died in residential schools is only just the beginning of the truth. We know it speaks to the systemic racism endured under the residential school system and the intergenerational trauma left behind.

ACCT Foundation & ACT2endracism joins the collective effort calling on the Government of Canada to work towards true reconciliation beyond words and empty land acknowledgements to be replaced with real action to dismantle barriers for racialized Canadians. We ask that all Canadians wear an orange shirt and begin the uncomfortable discussions on racism and how we can be better as individuals and as a country.