Chilliwack – Statement from the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association:
The Chilliwack Teachers’ Association is concerned by the decision by “Trustees For Change” to hold a campaign announcement on September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We have reached out to the candidate hosting the event and have not received a response.
September 30 is a day to honour the children who never returned home, Survivors of residential schools, their families and their communities. The Chilliwack School District itself describes the day as an important part of reconciliation and recognizes its responsibility to students, staff, families and communities. Truth and Reconciliation is also explicitly identified as a priority in the District’s 2025 to 2029 Strategic Plan.
Those seeking election as school trustees are asking to become leaders of that system. The District works and learns on the unceded traditional territory of Pilalt, Sema:th and Ts’elxwéyeqw, and its strategic plan commits the District to advancing Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous communities through respect, cooperation and partnership.
An announcement promoted under the banner of “Excellence and Inclusivity” makes the choice particularly difficult to reconcile. Inclusion is more than a campaign word. It means understanding whose voices and experiences should be centred in a particular moment. On September 30, that should be Indigenous peoples, Survivors, Elders, families and communities.
The District’s own message for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation calls upon leaders and educators in public education to listen with humility to Survivors, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Indigenous communities, and to transform reflection into deliberate action.
There are many days on which candidates can promote campaigns, announce policies and seek public attention. September 30 carries a significance that deserves respect.
For CTA members, reconciliation is not an abstract political concept. Educators see and participate in this work throughout our schools. We work with Indigenous students and families, engage with Indigenous perspectives and history, and contribute to a school system that has publicly committed itself to reconciliation.
People seeking to govern that system should understand the responsibility that comes with that work.
Respect and inclusion are demonstrated not only through what leaders say, but through the choices they make about when to speak, when to listen, and when the moment should belong to someone else.
