Have a Heart Day
On February 14, people across the country can support culturally based equity for First Nations children by sending letters and Valentine cards to the Prime Minister, by hosting an awareness raising event in their school or community, or by spreading the word through social media like YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook.
Have a Heart Day is a child and youth-led reconciliation event that brings together caring Canadians to help ensure First Nations children have the services they need to grow up safely at home, get a good education, be healthy, and be proud of who they are.
Click on this link to hear Senator Kim Pate make a statement on Have a Heart Day, commending the children and emphasizing the importance of their cause. You can read Senator Pate's message for Have a Heart Day 2020 here.
There are many ways you can celebrate Have a Heart Day. Here are some ideas:
Send a Valentine’s Day card or letter supporting Have a Heart Day to the Prime Minister and your Member of Parliament.
Host a Valentine’s Day party to raise awareness in your school or community. Choose a day leading up to Valentine's Day that makes sense for your class or community. Download and edit our Have A Heart Day poster here to use for your event. Fill & Sign to edit using Adobe Reader (free download here).
Bring reconciliation into the classroom to get your students ready. Do Project of Heart or screen a film. For other great ideas, visit the Shannen's Dream School Resources page.
Spread the word through social media like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Use the hashtag #HaveaHeartDay and/or #JourneeAyezUnCoeur.
Explore the Have a Heart Day website for more ideas and to download Have a Heart Day resources!
Through activities like Have a Heart Day, we are creating a movement where the landscape of Canada is only one of honour and possibility for First Nations children.
Visit the Have a Heart Gallery to see photos from events across Canada!
Reconciliation is all of us. Read this information sheet for ways you can help make a difference.
Watch a short film documenting “Have a Heart Day” on Parliament Hill. It is a beautifully told story about standing up for what is right. Click here!
Visit https://fncaringsociety.com/have-a-heart for more resources! Get involved!
Have a Heart day 2014: An award honouring our school’s work: The Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce Award!
Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce was among the group of people who wrote the rules and created the institutions that we take for granted in Canada today. He was active in public health, becoming the first Canadian president of the American Public Health Association, and founding the Canadian Public Health Association in 1910. In 1904 Dr. Bryce was hired by the Department of the Interior to manage public health issues in both the Immigration Department and Indian Affairs. In 1907 he issued a report critical of public health standards in the residential school system of western Canada. The average death toll due to communicable disease, primarily Tuberculosis, was 24% per year. But the report was buried and it was not until 1922, when he published The Story of a National Crime, that the statistics became public.
Peter Henderson Bryce died in January 1932 while on a trip to the West Indies. In the years after the 1907 report, his career stalled, and the Indian Affairs portfolio was taken away from him. It was not until the 2008 Residential School apology that the Federal government admitted to any negligence or wrong-doing, which Dr. Bryce had so clearly shown over 100 years earlier.
Dr. Bryce stood up for First Nations, Métis and Inuit children even when it was a hard thing to do because other people criticized him. He knew what was right, and in a peaceful and respectful way kept on trying to help the children. We want others to follow his example by having the courage to stand up for the right thing and help this generation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children and youth have the same chance to succeed as other children and youth in Canada.
Read about why we won the award here!
