The Queen Has A Message For Canada On Its First National Day For Truth & Reconciliation

On September 30 — Canada's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — the queen shared a message from England with Canadians.

"I join with all Canadians on this first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to reflect on the painful history that Indigenous peoples endured in residential schools in Canada," the message reads. The queen went on to acknowledge "the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society."

The short royal message was shared by the Governor General of Canada, who said that it had been addressed to "all Canadians" on Thursday, September 30.

Back in June, the feds announced that September 30 would be Canada's first official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

It became a stat holiday for federal government employees and federally regulated workplaces in Canada. Many provinces have followed this lead and have adopted the stat holiday, too.

This move was made in response to a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada to create a day to publicly commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools as a key part of the reconciliation process and to honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis survivors, their families and their communities.

Speaking on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Canadians to "reflect on both the historic legacy of harm that residential schools have created but also the very current echoes in the present and in the future that those harms and those mistakes made by Canada in the past continue to deliver."