Every Child Matters.

Every Child Matters. It's a commitment we can all make, every day.

Wednesday was a day for listening and learning (well, we all can listen and learn every day, but September 30th, Truth and Reconciliation Day, is particularly significant).

I was fortunate to attend a sunrise service with some friends, and then share prayers, food, music, and dancing. Several stories were told reminding us about atrocities committed within the residential school system that continue to impact people I love to this day.

I had the chance to draw with some kids and families attending, while listening to one survivor challenge us to show every child, every day, that they matter. That is something we all can do.

Whether we are politicians or voters or business people or parents or some combination or none of those, every day we can show children they matter through our consideration of the long-term consequences of the decisions we make.

We can also model for them what it means to be a caring and responsible adult: *by acknowledging our mistakes and the times we have failed to live up to our responsibilities *by learning from these things and changing our behaviours going forward *by choosing kindness at every opportunity