Mississippi River Health Alliance to raise Indigenous flags for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The Mississippi River Health Alliance (MRHA) will mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Every Child Matters/Orange Shirt Day on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 by formally raising Indigenous flags across its various hospital and long-term care sites.

According to a release from the MRHA, the Anishinaabe Flag will be displayed at Almonte General Hospital, Fairview Manor and Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital. At the Lanark County Paramedic Service, staff will display the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Flag and wear orange epaulettes as a show of support.

Officials with the organization stated that the flag raising reflects the service’s work across multiple bases in Lanark County and on different unceded territories, ensuring representation that is both “respectful and meaningful.”

In addition, all Canada flags located at MRHA sites will be lowered to half-mast to honour the hundreds of children who never returned from residential schools and to acknowledge survivors and their affected communities.

“These actions reflect the MRHA’s ongoing commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging and its recognition of First Nations peoples, including the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation on whose traditional territory we live and work,” the organization said in a statement.

More information about the health alliance’s diversity and inclusion efforts is available at www.mrha.ca.