Today, on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we pause to honour the survivors of residential schools, their families and the children who never returned home.
Reconciliation must not be confined to a single day. It is a continuous journey that calls for compassion, reflection and a commitment to ensuring our actions reflect our words.
As a city, we acknowledge that we are on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people. We are deeply grateful to live and work on these lands and we recognize our responsibility to uphold these relationships we have built.
We encourage you to join the Walk for the Children, hosted by the Penticton Indian Band Okanagan Nation Alliance, which starts at Safeway at 10 a.m. and ends at the Syilx Okanagan Indian Residential School Monument next to the Penticton Hatchery.
We all have a role to play on this journey. Let’s take a moment today to listen, learn and reflect. Together, we can build a future rooted in respect, understanding and partnership.
– Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield