Beyond apologies and education, some advocates have demanded that Canada pay reparations to help repair the continuing damage of slavery. Historians have pointed out that Canada did previously pay reparations. Much like in the United States, the largest federal reparations program in Canada compensated former slaveholders.

The British newspaper Daily Mirror reported that the UK continued to pay off debt from that compensation until 2015, yet formerly enslaved people and their descendants have not been compensated. However, Canada has in recent years agreed to pay compensation to Indigenous Canadians for abuses committed against them, raising the possibility that further payments could be made to victims of oppression, including the country’s Black population.

A move toward reparations or a greater acknowledgment of Canada’s history with slavery may take years to implement. Yet, the continuing official acknowledgment of Emancipation Day is a useful step in the process as the country confronts the worst parts of its history with the hope of creating a better future for all Canadians.

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