Queen Elizabeth sends special message to people of Canada

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was made a federal statutory holiday earlier this year in Canada, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended in its 94 calls to action. It will be held annually on Sept. 30.

It honours the children who died while being forced to attend residential schools and the survivors, families and communities still affected by the system's legacy.

Queen Elizabeth on Thursday sent a message to the people of Canada on the country’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

She wrote, "I join with all Canadians on this first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to reflect on the painful history that Indigenous peoples endued in residential schools in Canada, and on the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society," read a statement issued from Balmoral Castle."