Last month marked the 10-year anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report on the devastating legacy of Canada’s residential school system.
The anniversary comes at a time when Canada’s commitment to reconciliation is being put to the test by forces both within Canada and south of the border. In the current political climate, it remains to be seen whether this commitment will be sustained, or if the TRC’s findings will be relegated to another dark chapter in Canada’s colonial history.
The TRC’s Final Report & Calls to Action
The TRC was created in 2008 through the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. Its mandate was to inform Canadians of residential schools by documenting the stories of survivors, families and communities affected by the residential school system.
Over a seven-year period, the TRC heard from over 6,000 survivors and witnesses of residential schools. The TRC’s Final Report, released in 2015, is a comprehensive, multi-volume history of the policies and operations of the residential school system. Ultimately, the TRC found that the establishment and operation of residential schools formed a central component of a broader set of federal policies aimed at the elimination and assimilation of Indigenous peoples which amounted to cultural genocide.
In addition to the Final Report, the TRC released 94 Calls to Action setting out recommendations for specific steps to be taken by federal, provincial and territorial governments on a variety of issues, including child welfare, education, justice, and health. Taken together, the Calls to Action provide a concrete, tangible path for governments to recognize and repair the abuses caused by the residential school system, and to prevent further harms from happening in the future.
Where Things Stand
In the wake of the TRC’s Final Report, organizations across the country have regularly published updates charting the status of the implementation of the Calls to Action. While there have been notable positive steps forward – particularly in the area of Indigenous child welfare – most reports conclude that progress on implementing the Calls to Action have stalled or failed entirely on key issues.
Among the most glaring of those issues is Call to Action #47, which calls on governments in Canada to renounce outdated, racist concepts, including the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, which justify the assertion of European sovereignty over Indigenous peoples, and to reform existing laws and policies which perpetuate those concepts.
Despite repeated public commitments to reconciliation, Canada has yet to enact legislation repudiating the Doctrine, nor has it committed to amending or reviewing existing legislation and policies which remain rooted in the false assumption that the Crown’s assertion of sovereignty extinguished the pre-existing sovereignty of Indigenous nations.
Instead, recent legislation enacted at the federal and provincial level suggests a very different path: one based not on a commitment to moving beyond Canada’s colonial legacy, but on the continued exploitation of Indigenous lands and resources in the name of national sovereignty.
Looking Ahead
The TRC’s Final Report and Calls to Action were made possible by the hard work and bravery of Indigenous survivors who sought justice for themselves and others harmed by the residential school system.
However, the TRC’s findings do not begin or end with residential schools. As the Final Report makes clear, residential schools were part of a larger colonial project which both implicitly and explicitly sought to dispossess Indigenous peoples from their lands, culture and identity. The Calls to Action provide a blueprint for how governments can address that legacy by charting a new course grounded in the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ own laws and governance. It is up to Canada to choose whether to pursue that new path, or to remain rooted in the past.
Kate Gunn is partner at First Peoples Law LLP. Kate completed her Master of Law at the University of British Columbia. Kate is co-author of Indigenous Peoples and the Law in Canada: Cases and Commentary.
Contact Kate and connect with her on LinkedIn.
First Peoples Law is a law firm dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We work closely with First Nations to defend their Aboriginal title, rights and Treaty rights, uphold their Indigenous laws and governance and ensure economic prosperity for their members.
Sign up for our First Peoples Law Report for your latest news on Indigenous rights