National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Hello Members, 

September 30 marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – the day to honour Survivors of the residential school system and mourn the children who never returned home. Acknowledging this tragic and painful history, and its ongoing impacts is a vital component of the reconciliation process and must be coupled with tangible action and allyship in order to move forward.

This year, we are pleased to share a recently launched online cultural humility and competency certificate course called PACT (pledge, activate, cultivate, thrive), created by ACTRA member Jennifer Podemski and her team at the SHINE Network Institute. This course is designed to provide non-Indigenous stakeholders within the screen sector an Indigenous framed, culturally informed awareness to prepare them when working with Indigenous productions and content. The course takes approximately 45 minutes to complete, and you can take it here.

The urgent need to support Indigenous screen storytellers for generations to come is key to everyone understanding the worldview of Indigenous communities. We are grateful for organizations like the SHINE Network Institute, Indigenous Screen Office, and ImagineNATIVE who are leading the screen sector to create positive change in this area.

On September 30, I encourage you to take time to pause, reflect, acknowledge the past and commit to a better future.

Eleanor Noble 
ACTRA National President