Today is not a marketing opportunity.
It is not a trend, a seasonal campaign, or a day to place an orange graphic on a business page without understanding why it is there.
For me, this day is personal.
As a Métis person and the owner of Active Paws, I am part of a community whose histories, families, cultures, and experiences cannot be reduced to a single post on September 30.
Today is a day to remember.
A day to listen.
A day to learn.
And a day to recognize the children who were taken from their families and communities through the residential school system, the children who never returned home, the Survivors who did, and the families and generations who continue to live with the impacts.
Every Child Matters
Orange Shirt Day grew from the story of Phyllis Webstad, whose new orange shirt was taken from her when she arrived at residential school as a child.
Her story became part of a much larger movement — one that asks Canadians to confront a history that was lived by real children, real families, and real communities.
The words Every Child Matters carry weight.
They remind us that every child deserved safety.
Every child deserved family.
Every child deserved dignity.
Every child deserved to know where they came from.
Every child deserved to speak their language, know their culture, and grow within their community.
And every child deserved to come home.
This History Is Not Distant
For Indigenous families, the impacts of colonial policies are not simply chapters in a history book.
They can live through generations.
They can be felt in families separated from culture, language, land, community, identity, and one another.
They can exist in stories that were told — and in the stories people could not bring themselves to tell.
They can exist in missing pieces of family history.
In names changed.
In connections disrupted.
In traditions interrupted.
In grief carried quietly.
In people trying to understand where they belong.
First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples have distinct histories, cultures, experiences, and communities. Our stories are not interchangeable, and reconciliation requires more than treating Indigenous peoples as one single experience.
Why Is Active Paws Recognizing This Day?
Because awareness should not be limited to organizations that work directly in politics, education, or Indigenous services.
Active Paws is a dog-walking and training business.
That is what we do.
But a business does not exist separately from the person who built it, the community around it, or the land on which it operates.
I am Métis.
I do not need to manufacture a commercial connection between dogs and September 30 to justify acknowledging this day.
I do not need to create a promotion.
I do not need to sell something.
I do not need to turn reconciliation into branding.
Sometimes our role is simply to use the space we have — even a small corner of the internet normally filled with dogs, walking adventures, training, and muddy paws — to say:
This matters.
What Can We Do Today?
Reconciliation is not completed by wearing orange for one day.
But today can be a reason to begin, continue, or deepen the work.
You can:
🧡 Learn why Orange Shirt Day exists.
Take time to learn Phyllis Webstad’s story and understand the meaning behind the orange shirt.
🧡 Learn about the residential school system in Canada.
Do not rely only on social-media summaries. Seek out Indigenous voices, Survivor testimony, historical records, and educational resources.
🧡 Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
Reconciliation requires understanding what Indigenous communities and Survivors have already asked Canada to address.
🧡 Learn the history where you live.
Learn about the First Nations, Métis communities, Treaties, histories, and ongoing Indigenous presence connected to the place you call home.
🧡 Support Indigenous creators and businesses thoughtfully.
Not because it is September 30, but throughout the year.
🧡 Listen without demanding personal stories.
Indigenous people should not have to disclose family trauma or educate others in order for this history to be taken seriously.
🧡 Teach children the truth in age-appropriate ways.
Future generations deserve an honest understanding of Canada’s history.
🧡 Keep learning after today.
October 1 matters too.
A Small Commitment From Active Paws
Our usual world is dogs.
It is leashes, trails, training, enrichment, muddy paws, companionship, and the relationships people build with the animals they love.
Today, we are making room in that world for awareness.
Not because we are trying to make this day about dogs.
Not because we have a product to sell.
But because every business, every community page, and every person with a platform — no matter how small — can choose not to look away.
If someone visits the Active Paws calendar because they were looking for a dog event and leaves knowing a little more about why September 30 matters, then awareness has travelled one step further.
🧡 Every Child Matters
Today, we honour the children who never came home.
We honour Survivors.
We honour families.
We recognize the generations who continue to carry the impacts.
We recognize the strength of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples and communities — past, present, and future.
And we remember that truth must come before reconciliation.
Today we wear orange. Tomorrow, we keep learning.
— Nicole Hall - Owner of Active Paws