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As we lead up to National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations on June 21, we would be remiss if we did not first acknowledge the recent findings at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. where our Kelson Group head office is located. Our most sincere condolences to the many families in our communities and beyond who had already suffered tremendous loss and now are again confronted with such overwhelming sorrow of the news confirming what they knew all along. It is our hope that all of us take time to learn about National Indigenous Peoples Day and make space to listen, learn, and engage year-round.

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples in Canada
At Kelson Group, we are proud of the cultural diversity that makes Canada so rich, diverse, and glorious! We are proud to have a corporate culture that upholds the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and to champion a distinguished set of company values built upon diversity and inclusion. June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day and due to COVID-19 pandemic gathering restrictions, in-person celebrations may look a little different this year but there are still opportunities where you can learn and celebrate Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

 ABOUT NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
In 1982, the Assembly of First Nations (formerly the National Indian Brotherhood), called for a day of national aboriginal solidarity to celebrate the fundamental contributions of Indigenous Peoples to Canada's identity and culture. After years of meetings and consultations between the Government of Canada and Indigenous groups, National Aboriginal Day was proclaimed in 1996 by Canada's then Governor General, Roméo LeBlanc, to be celebrated annually on June 21. On June 21, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the renaming of the day to National Indigenous Peoples Day.
 
LISTEN, LEARN + ENGAGE
There are many ways to learn and connect online. Discover diverse languages and traditions through storytelling, gastronomy, and art. Recognize the many achievements of our First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples that have shaped our past and continue to enrich and shape our future.
 
Here are some excellent resources developed by the Government of Canada:
Cooking Indigenous style
Word Search for Indigenous peoples
Braiding beautiful bracelets
Our culture: An Indigenous Way of Life
Story: The Great Festival of Light
  
KELSON GROUP'S COMPANY CULTURE + BELIEFS
Our company upholds the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms for the protection of every Canadian's right to be treated equally under the law. This includes the rights and freedoms of Indigenous Peoples. We are a member of the Certified Rental Building Program (CRB) through LandlordBC to ensure our team follows 50 standards of practice, from building operations and environmental practice to resident and human resources management, of which we are audited regularly to ensure we are demonstrating our compliance with the standards.

Our company and employees are guided within day-to-day operations by our company values, which focus on: 

• fairness, to our residents and staff; 
• accountability, for our actions and how they influence others; 
• caring, exhibiting empathy for others we interact with; 
• teamwork to help each other succeed, and 
• service, with a focus on consistently delivering clean, well maintained buildings and exceptional professionalism. 

We believe we can always learn more and engage more deeply, and we have committed to Diversity & Inclusion training for our entire team this fall to provide education to enrich our understanding and engagement.

We hope this information is helpful and helps you learn and engage more too.