By Christy Smith, Senior Vice President, Indigenous Interests and Community Well-being
Today, organizations and communities across Canada are recognizing Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. These moments matter. They create space to honour Survivors, remember the children who never came home, and deepen our understanding of the lasting impacts of residential schools.
But each year, I find myself returning to a more difficult question: What will actually be different after September 30?
Will people use the day to learn, reflect, and consider their own responsibilities? Or has it become another paid statutory holiday, disconnected from the truth it was created to recognize?
I know what I hope for.
I hope people take time to understand why the day exists. That they listen to Survivors and Indigenous voices. That they reflect not only on the history of residential schools, but on the ways colonial systems and attitudes continue to shape institutions, workplaces, projects, and relationships today.
Most importantly, I hope that reflection leads to action, not only on September 30, but in the decisions people make throughout the year.
As a K’ómoks First Nation woman and Senior Vice President, Indigenous Interests & Community Well-Being at Falkirk, I work at the intersection of Indigenous rights and interests, project development, environmental assessment, and community well-being.
From that vantage point, one thing is clear: reconciliation cannot be confined to a day, an orange shirt, a corporate statement, or a training session.
These actions can be meaningful, but their value depends on what follows. Reflection must be connected to the harder work of changing how institutions operate.
Reconciliation is reflected in how decisions are made, whose knowledge is valued, when Indigenous Nations are brought into a process, whether adequate capacity is provided, and how commitments are followed through.
It should be visible in project budgets, schedules, governance structures, procurement practices, employment pathways, knowledge and data protocols, and the willingness to change course when Indigenous input identifies a better path forward.
In the resource, energy, and infrastructure sectors, Indigenous engagement is still too often treated primarily as a regulatory requirement or a task to be completed. Meaningful reconciliation asks more of us.
This is particularly important at a time when governments and industry across Canada are focused on advancing major projects and infrastructure. Meaningful Indigenous participation must be part of how those projects move forward from the outset.
It requires organizations to recognize Indigenous Nations as governments and rights holders and to build Nation-specific relationships grounded in respect, transparency, and accountability.
It also requires something that receives far less attention: internal readiness.
An organization cannot build a strong external relationship with an Indigenous Nation if its own teams are not aligned, commitments are not tracked, information is fragmented, or engagement begins only after important decisions have already been made.
Reconciliation does not mean there will never be disagreement. Strong relationships must be able to hold difficult conversations. It means creating the conditions for those conversations to happen honestly, respectfully, and early enough to influence outcomes. It means listening without immediately becoming defensive, acknowledging when a process has fallen short, and taking responsibility for repairing the relationship.
For those of us working alongside Indigenous Nations, governments, and industry, our responsibility is to help bring Indigenous priorities into the places where project decisions are actually made. It is not about speaking for Indigenous Nations. It is about supporting processes in which Nations can participate meaningfully, their knowledge and governance are respected, commitments are accountable, and their input can influence the path forward.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important moment for remembrance, learning, and reflection, but reconciliation cannot be seasonal. The real measure of our commitment, however, is what happens during the other 364 days of the year.
