Questions arise over Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Orange Shirt Day purchase
CBC
Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries is facing criticism over how it purchased its Orange Shirt Day T-shirts after it came to light the Crown corporation used a non-Indigenous company to produce them and is not planning to make any donations to Indigenous non-profits.
Earlier this year, the Crown corporation put out a bid looking for a company to print about 9,000 T-shirts – 7,000 shirts for their various festivals, plus an additional 2,000 for Orange Shirt Day.
In April, it was awarded to a Winnipeg-based, non-Indigenous, custom printing company that CBC News decided not to name.
A spokesperson for the Crown corporation said it followed procurement guidelines.
However, the award raised questions about how government organizations should support Indigenous businesses on September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
"It is part of reconciliation," said Michelle Cameron, owner of Dreamcatcher Promotions, an Indigenous-owned promotions company based in Headingley, about 20 km west of Winnipeg.
Orange Shirt Day "is an Indigenous campaign and if you really wanted to do the right thing, try and search out an Indigenous printing company… from start to finish."
On Sept. 30, people across the province will be donning orange shirts in an acknowledgement of the ongoing harms of residential schools to Indigenous peoples.
The "orange shirt" refers to the shirt Phyllis Webstad was given by her grandmother for her first day at St. Joseph's Mission residential school in British Columbia.
When Phyllis got to school, they took away her clothes, including her new shirt, which was never returned.
Cameron's mother, aunts and uncles are all residential school survivors.
Her company sells orange shirts out of its Polo Park clothing store and its Winnipeg-based Indigenous Nations Clothing Apparel Company (INAC). It also does custom prints.
She commends anyone who supports the day by wearing a shirt but said they need to understand why they should support Indigenous companies and organizations.
The "orange T-shirt means people are understanding and they're hearing the story of residential schools," she said.
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