Join Dufferin County this October for a free event in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day.

In collaboration with the Equity Events Working Group, Dufferin County is hosting Community Conversations: Can Canada Move Towards Reconciliation on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at Grace Tipling Hall in Shelburne from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Community members are invited to join speaker Tanya Talaga – an award-winning Anishinaabe journalist and author, who will walk through Canadian history, via an Indigenous lens, and explain how we arrived here and what we can do to achieve a more equitable future for all.

Registration is required for the event. Register here.

Through her bestselling books, acclaimed documentaries and podcasts, regular columns with the Globe and Mail, and powerful keynotes, Talaga aims to amplify Indigenous voices and stories across Canada and the world. She is a born storyteller, who is passionate about education reform and building a more inclusive and equitable future.

Talaga is of Anishinaabe and Polish descent. She is a proud member of Fort William First Nation in the Robinson-Superior Treaty territory with her maternal family having ties to Treaty 9. Her father was Polish Canadian.

Learn more about Tanya and her work here. Read Tanya’s Globe and Mail columns here. Find Tanya’s books here.

The Equity Events Working Group is comprised of dedicated volunteers, councilors, and staff from the County of Dufferin and local municipalities.

The group’s focus is the planning and managing community engagement initiatives, with particular emphasis on “Community Conversations.” Its primary goal is to organize and deliver inclusive events that celebrate diversity, promote learning, and foster a strong sense of belonging – while ensuring a positive and meaningful experience for all participants.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours the indigenous children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Orange Shirt Day is also recognized on September 30. Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

“Dufferin County is proud to present the Community Conversations: Can Canada Move Towards Reconciliation event in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Reconciliation is a principle, and to move towards it, we must all focus on learning, unlearning, reflection and action. We encourage residents to join us to learn more about Canadian history through an indigenous lens, so that we can continue to work towards achieving a more equitable future, together.”

-Janet Horner, Warden, Dufferin County

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Megan Ball, Manager of Communications
mball@dufferincounty.ca