Should Indigenous Peoples Day be a statutory holiday?

Think should National Indigenous Peoples Day be proclaimed a statutory holiday? We're going to talk about that right now. As a matter of fact, it has been 28 years since Canada proclaimed National Indigenous Peoples Day every June 21st. Lots of commemorative events taking place across the country right now, but it's only recognized as an official holiday in the Northwest Territories and UConn. So should the rest of Canada follow suit? Well, entrepreneur Jeff Ward thinks so. He is the founder and CEO of Anna Mickey. That's an Indigenous focus tech company. And I spoke with him earlier this week. And here's how the conversation went. Thanks for having me. Thanks for taking the time with us. You wrote an op-ed in The Globe and Mail nearly a decade ago arguing that Indigenous Peoples Day should be a stat holiday. Do you still feel this way? Yeah. Wow. Nearly a decade ago. Hey. Yeah. And my company, it's always been a stat holiday since then, especially as our team has grown and expanded from coast to coast. That's the case for us. So on Friday, my staff will have the day off to go and enjoy celebrations and their communities. And tell me about your argument at the time. I mean, what were you? I get, I imagine it hasn't changed very much. Well, at the time, you know, the Truth and Reconciliation made calls to action and one of them was for a national day of remembrance and commemoration. And so the question at that time was, was there going to be such a day or was that going to be June 21st and the Indigenous Peoples Day? And, and of course, September 30th has been the, you know, the day for commemoration and, and remembering stories and those that survived and didn't survive their residential schools. And so, but that still leaves June 21st. And when you have other territories that do offer this as a stat to its citizens, it makes you wonder, why aren't the other provinces following along? And could that be because perhaps they think they don't have enough of an Indigenous population to observe? I mean, it's it's about, yeah, celebrating really all Indigenous cultures from coast to coast to coast. And there are a lot of Indigenous folks in urban centers and, and everywhere. So I don't really buy that is the argument. I think certainly from the business community in that sector. That was some of the criticism I heard when I sort of shared some of these ideas. And what we're doing with my business is another stat holiday that, you know, this is a cost to to businesses and that kind of thing. And but we do it because we think it's meaningful. And also in the context of the TRC, even though September 30th was, you know, meant to be a, a national holiday, you know, part of the TRC call to action #92 I believe is for businesses. And that is to provide opportunities and training about the history of Indigenous peoples in this country. And what a wonderful opportunity for employers to be able to offer that day off to their staff to have those experiences and those learnings. And how would you see people doing that? I mean, obviously, well, would it just be business? Would you say the schools close on that day as well? I mean, I think school closed, yeah, as well. I mean, my kids, there's, it's been more than one occasion where on June 21st, you know, it's the end of the school year, they went to the beach instead of going to any one of the amazing events happening around the city where I live, you know. So I think there just needs to be more intention. And when there was a day that is a stat holiday, I think in the public's mind it raises a certain level of importance. Do you know of any other companies besides your own that make it a holiday? Yeah, we've open sourced some of our policies around statutory holidays and things like allowing staff to swap days that are more meaningful for them. And since we've done a lot of this advocacy work, I guess over the last 10 years or so, a lot of companies have followed suit and and do do offer that. And I'd say it is common in the Indigenous community that many of our organizations and, and groups do treat it like a stat holiday. And, and what you talked about, you know, an opportunity to educate people about the well, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Indigenous life altogether. What do you do at your own company to commemorate the day? I mean, we offer a lot of training to any staff that is joining our company and looking at, you know, what are the staff holidays that we all of them in as as a group, all the days that we offer off. So we really think about this one day is, is, is part of a greater strategy of how do we include Indigenous voices and perspectives in all of our day-to-day work. Of course, he mentioned September 30th off the top, which is Truth and Reconciliation Day and that is already recognized as a stat holiday. I, I guess having a day for, you know, celebration rather than honoring, you know, victims and survivors of residential schools. You know, those are two very different things and two, you know, very different ways to look at Indigenous communities in Canada. Exactly. And This is why I love that we have the intentionality of having this, this other day on September 30th, more for yeah, the, the remembrance, the sort of commemoration which was, you know, the spirit of the, the call, call to action, right? Whereas June 21st, you know, it's, it's also time of, of summer solstice and which is important for many communities. And yeah, this is the time for for celebration of what Indigenous peoples have and continue to contribute to Canadian society everyday. Do you think it's ever going to happen? What do you think it's going to take to get to get this recognized as an official stat holiday? I think it's a matter of time. If you look the leadership of like UConn and the Northwest Territories, I think it makes sense for, for others to, to follow suit other, other provinces. And like you mentioned, you know, September 30th being a stat and there's still provinces that have made that an optional stat holiday in my mind isn't good enough, right? Do you think we'll see? And again, I'm, I don't want, I'm asking you to speculate here. Should we see a change in government from a liberal government to a Conservative government federally? Do you think that this, this issue will be advanced? I, I think either way, the, the, the sort of ties are, are changing and I think the broader Canadian society are interested to learn more about the, the histories in the past of how this, this country was, how it began and to also lift up the voices of Indigenous people. So I don't want to necessarily make it a partisan thing of what will go forward or, but I believe that it's in the hearts and minds of of all Canadians and I I think it will happen. Jeff, so good to hear you this morning. Thank you for the time. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. You take care. Bye. Bye. Take care. That is Jeff Ward, an entrepreneur and founder and CEO of the tech company Anna Mickey. We reached him in Toronto. And So what do you think? Should National Indigenous Peoples Day be declared a stat holiday? You can call us on our text line or text us rather. Text us 236-330-2623. That's 236-330-2623.