Wednesday was the launch of the 2026 Truth and Reconciliation Relay, an event hosted annually by the Greater Sudbury Police Service. “Everything starts somewhere,” said Const. Anik Dennie. “But to get to the fifth year is absolutely amazing. And then to see how many people are joining year after year, it just makes it feel a little bit more impactful.” Dennie and her partner, Const. Katrina Pitawanakwat, began the relay as an internal initiative in 2022. Hundreds took part in 2025 The following year, they worked with the Indigenous liaison office to expand the program to include community organizations. Last year, 300 people from more than 20 organizations participated, logging kilometres through walking, running, cycling and other forms of movement. Dennie said the goal is to log 150,000 kilometres, even though they fell short of that goal last year. But she said falling short is a reminder that there is much more work to be done before reconciliation can happen. “Very recently … Sudbury went under a boil water advisory,” Dennie said. “There are communities up north that have long-standing boil water advisories. So I don’t even think that it would be appropriate for us to hit our target because reconciliation work and work that is still left to be done is so vast.” “For us to hit our target would almost be anticlimactic because there’s still so much change that needs to be done,” she added. Calls to Action Participants are invited to watch educational videos and access resources, read through the Calls to Action, and select one that resonates with them personally. “There are so many calls to action out there,” she said. “Our interpretation of different calls to action might be different from person to person, but we’re really encouraging organizations to hone in and focus on one call to action that, as a collective, they can work towards.” Staff Sgt. Adam Demers has been participating in the relay for many years. Last year, he clocked just shy of 500 kilometres and placed second overall. “I had some holidays, so I was off. (I) got the kids involved, cycling, walking, we did some swimming, a lot of outdoor stuff,” Demers said. “In policing, we have a lot of new officers and we’re in the north. So the Indigenous culture and history is here. So I think supporting that makes sense, especially being up in the north. So yeah, I’m going to try to get as much participation as I can.” Participants are encouraged to spend from Sept. 1-30 logging their kilometres while reflecting on the videos. To learn more, click here.
