Promoting a learning culture by actively listening to our neighbours in Ward 12’s communities creates commonality where we can learn about and understand our unconscious biases and how to overcome them. Diversified communities encourage residents to interact respectfully and provide accessible and inclusive services to ensure quality of life is better for everyone who lives, plays, and works in them. For Ward 12 this includes, but is not limited to, our neighbours who are:

The Government of Canada recently passed legislation to make September 30th a federal statutory holiday called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day provides opportunity for public servants to recognize and commemorate the legacy of residential schools.

While the Government of Alberta, disappointingly, chose not to recognize this new statutory holiday and its important purpose and meaning, the City of Calgary has and so have our public and separate school boards.

Not everyone will have the opportunity to take this day off to reflect and honour, but I hope everyone does take time to consider what it means to be a great neighbour, to help foster thriving neighbourhoods, to know the true history of Canada, and to understand the legacy of grief and pain many of our Indigenous neighbours carry with them. We all have a responsibility in a caring society to ensure every neighbour feels safe, secure, seen and included. 

For our Indigenous neighbours, this means listening and bearing witness to their stories while laying the burden of learning at our own feet. There are hundreds of resources available to become informed and educated about residential schools, stories, the history of colonization, and the 94 Truth & Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. Please use this list as a starting point: