09/30/2025
On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, CMHA reflects on the deep and lasting harms of colonial practices in Canada, and honours the survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities.
It’s also Orange Shirt Day and we equally honour and remember those who never returned home from residential schools, while acknowledging our shared responsibility to ensure these harms are never repeated, because Every Child Matters.
СМНА acknowledges the importance of truth as part of our sector’s responsibility toward reconciliation. Early in the 20th century in Canada, pioneers such as Dr.
Clarence Hincks and Dr. C.K. Clarke, helped establish some of the earliest mental health services in our country. While their work advanced public mental health, it also carried troubling beliefs and practices of the early 20th century, including support for public health policies related to eugenics and segregation practices that harmed many including Indigenous Peoples and others living with serious mental illnesses and disabilities.
Acknowledging these legacies is heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary. It’s our responsibility to move forward in ways that support true reconciliation, healing, and cultural reclamation. CMHA will continue to build stronger relationships with Indigenous communities and support healing and wellness in the mental health sector in a good way. 🧡🧡
