Residential Schools were state sanctioned institutions for the forced and violent assimilation of Aboriginal peoples that operated in Canada for over 100 years until the mid-1990s.  Aboriginal children who attended these institutions and the families and communities whose children were removed from them by the government, were traumatized and harmed. Due to the intergenerational trauma caused by the sexual, physical and emotional abuse inflicted on Aboriginal children who attended these institutions, the damage is ongoing. We need to make a change! It is our responsibility to ensure that our beautiful country lives up to the values it purports to have. As citizens of a democracy, we have the power to demand change from our government. Reconciliation is taking positive action going forward to ensure that Aboriginal peoples are treated with respect and have substantive equality.