Company Statement on the Rejection of Canada Day 2021

Originally written July 1, 2021

written by Zoe Marner and Summer Mahmud on behalf of the team at Teesri Duniya Theatre

Today, July 1st (and every other day), Teesri Duniya Theatre stands with our Indigenous peers and community members, and as such we will not be celebrating “Canada Day”.

In light of the murdered children uncovered at Kamloops, Brandon, Regina, Cowessess, LeStock, Carlisle, and those yet to be found across the country, we invite you to join us in spending the day working towards change rather than honouring a nation that refuses to take action towards dismantling colonial oppression.

We not only condemn Canada’s apathy towards deep-rooted colonialism but also, the inaction of the Roman Catholic Church and other institutions.

The institutions that funded and organized the genocide of Indigenous peoples have yet to take responsibility and continue to benefit from stolen land. Canada’s unwillingness to hold the Roman Catholic Church accountable, to honour Indigenous sovereignty, and to take a stand against systemic racism specifically upheld by laws such as Law 21, reveals the entho-religious double-standard that exists for the Roman Catholic Church. The lack of consequences lies in the colonial infrastructure of this country.

At Teesri, we are constantly working to educate ourselves on the historical and current colonial forces that have and continue to shape present-day life across Turtle Island. We promise to take action to support Indigenous, anti-colonial efforts to return unceded lands, and to protect Indigenous lives and cultures.

The rejection of “Canada Day” is an acknowledgement of the white-supremacy that has resulted in countless missing and murdered Indigenous women and children. We will take today to act upon the 94 calls to action put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada [Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action].

To celebrate July 1st is to celebrate complicity, so today and every day, we will instead honour the Indigenous peoples of this stolen land and take necessary steps towards real reconciliation. We will not take pride in genocide and we invite you to take the steps presented in the two reconciliation guides linked below.

For children: 12 Ways to Participate in Reconciliation
For adults: What Reconciliation Is And What It Is Not