Chapter 11: Truth and Reconciliation ~ Calls to Action ~ Responsible Citizenship

I will forego a lengthy introduction to this chapter, and simply present below the topics that we will cover.

• Understanding and Enacting the TRC Calls to Action
• Reconciliation through Education
• Exploring Responsible Citizenship 

Understanding and Enacting the TRC Calls to Action

There are several documents that are most instructive in understanding and enacting the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, one of which is included as the first document in the Reading Resources section of this textbook. It is titled, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This summary report presents on the findings and main discussions that are contained in the TRC’s final multi-volume reports.

There are many publications with the Final Report (Volume 6) discussing the essence of the Commission’s work including the methodology, what information was gathered from the special hearings and submissions, and the evidence that resulted in the calls to action. Anyone wishing to review the Commission’s publications should access these at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at https://nctr.ca/records/reports/.

Again, the written documentation is voluminous. Yet, the first 17 pages of the Commission’s Final Report succinctly outlines what reconciliation is all about, where we stand today, why this work is important, and what we must do together to achieve success.  Here are a few excepts:

“To the Commission, “reconciliation” is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. For that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.

We are not there yet. The relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples is not a mutually respectful one. But we believe we can get there, and we believe we can maintain it. Our ambition is to show how we can do that” (TRC, 2015, p. 3).

“The urgent need for reconciliation runs deep in Canada. Expanding public dialogue and action on reconciliation beyond residential schools will be critical in the coming years. Although some progress has been made, significant barriers to reconciliation remain. The relationship between the federal government and Aboriginal peoples is deteriorating. Instead of moving towards reconciliation, there have been divisive conflicts over Aboriginal education, child welfare, and justice. The daily news has been filled with reports of controversial issues ranging from the call for a national inquiry on violence towards Aboriginal women and girls to the impact of the economic development of lands and resources on Treaties and Aboriginal title and rights” (p. 4).

“Too many Canadians know little or nothing about the deep historical roots of these conflicts. This lack of historical knowledge has serious consequences for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and for Canada as a whole. In government circles, it makes for poor public policy decisions. In the public realm, it reinforces racist attitudes and fuels civic distrust between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians. Too many Canadians still do not know the history of Aboriginal peoples’ contributions to Canada, or understand that by virtue of the historical and modern Treaties negotiated by our government, we are all Treaty people. History plays an important role in reconciliation; to build for the future, Canadians must look to, and learn from, the past.

As Commissioners, we understood from the start that although reconciliation could not be achieved during the TRC’s lifetime, the country could and must take ongoing positive and concrete steps forward. Although the Commission has been a catalyst for deepening our national awareness of the meaning and potential of reconciliation, it will take many heads, hands, and hearts, working together, at all levels of society to maintain momentum in the years ahead. It will also take sustained political will at all levels of government and concerted material resources” (p. 4).

“Without truth, justice, and healing, there can be no genuine reconciliation. Reconciliation is not about ‘closing a sad chapter of Canada’s past’ but about opening new healing pathways of reconciliation that are forged in truth and justice. We are mindful that knowing the truth about what happened in residential schools in and of itself does not necessarily lead to reconciliation. Yet the importance of truth telling in its own right should not be underestimated; it restores the human dignity of victims of violence and calls governments and citizens to account. Without truth, justice is not served, healing cannot happen, and there can be no genuine reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada” (p. 7).

“Educators told us about their growing awareness of the inadequate role that post-secondary institutions played in training the teachers who taught in the schools. They have pledged to make educational practices and curriculum more inclusive of Aboriginal knowledge and history. Artists shared their ideas and feelings about truth and reconciliation through songs, paintings, dance, film, and other media. Corporations provided resources to bring Survivors to events and, in some cases, some of their own staff and managers. For non-Aboriginal Canadians who came to bear witness to Survivors’ life stories, the experience was powerful. One woman said simply, “By listening to your story, my story can change. By listening to your story, I can change” (p. 15).

And most importantly,

“Together, Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practise reconciliation in our everyday lives—within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and workplaces. To do so constructively, Canadians must remain committed to the ongoing work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.

For many Survivors and their families, this commitment is foremost about healing themselves, their communities, and their nations in ways that revitalize individuals as well as Indigenous cultures, languages, spirituality, laws, and governance systems. For governments, building a respectful relationship involves dismantling a centuries-old political and bureaucratic culture in which, all too often, policies and programs are still based on failed notions of assimilation. For churches, demonstrating long-term commitment requires atoning for actions within the residential schools, respecting Indigenous spirituality, and supporting Indigenous peoples’ struggles for justice and equity. Schools must teach history in ways that foster mutual respect, empathy, and engagement. All Canadian children and youth deserve to know Canada’s honest history, including what happened in the residential schools, and to appreciate the rich history and knowledge of Indigenous nations, which continue to make such a strong contribution to Canada, including our very name and collective identity as a country. For Canadians from all walks of life, reconciliation offers a new way of living together” (p. 17).

You have already heard several times throughout the course about the TRC’s Calls to Action. There is a separate document (15 pages) in the NCTR publication website that contains the Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. In a 20-minute video, each of the 94 recommendations are read out, via the audio-visual Summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action.

If you look at the 94 calls to action, there are sixteen categories: 1) Health; 2) Education; 3) Language and culture; 4) Child Welfare; 5) Justice; 6) Commemoration; 7) Reconciliation; 8) National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation; 9) Education for reconciliation; 10) Missing children and burial information; 11) Museums and archives; 12) Royal Proclamation and Covenant of Reconciliation; 13) Youth programs; 14) Church apologies and Reconciliation; 15) Media; and 16) Sports.

You may wish to explore the recommendations with a category that interests you. Who knows, maybe you see where you may contribute. I often cite Recommendations 61-64 which deals specifically with public education to advance reconciliation. I first heard about these specific calls from Charlene Bearhead and her work as education coordinator at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, University of Manitoba, when she came to Prince Edward Island to address UPEI’s Faculty of Education (see Figure 51).

Figure 51: Charlene Bearhead at special UPEI Faculty of Education workshop

Ms. Bearhead, an ally education activist and advocate, also worked as education coordinator for the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. Immediately below (see Figure 51.1), you will find an image that is taken from one of the Canadian Museum on Human Rights installations that symbolizes through the depiction of empty Red Dresses, what this inquiry was all about, and why the Inquiry’s title is named Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. The Inquiry’s body of work and subsequent 231 Calls for Justice figure prominently in the Faculty’s mandate and other courses.

Figure 51.1: Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls

Ms. Bear currently does work with Canadian Geographic and has authored many books.

I also frequently refer to the two recommendations on Newcomers to Canada as I provided many information sessions as special guest lecturer to newcomers to PEI so they could get a better sense to Indigenous peoples through my presentations. Those recommendations read,

“93. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the national Aboriginal organizations, to revise the information kit for newcomers to Canada and its citizenship test to reflect a more inclusive history of the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including information about the Treaties and the history of residential schools.

94. We call upon the Government of Canada to replace the Oath of Citizenship with the following: I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada including Treaties with Indigenous Peoples, and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen” (p. 10-11).

Below I provide two important video links that speak to reconciliation in Canada today, the first from the Chair of the TRC Commission, former Senator and Justice Murray Sinclair. He was interviewed by CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault for the National on June 22, 2021.

Murray Sinclair on moving reconciliation forward in Canada

The next video is a reporting by CBC about the progress or lack of progress toward ‘enacting’ the TRC’s Calls to Action.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, six years later

In March 2024, I was invited to give a special talk to the UNB Law Students’ Association on the topic of Where are we today?

In my opening remarks, I went on to say that next year will mark the 10th Anniversary of the 2015 Release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report and 94 Calls to Action, so the topic of Where are we today? is quite timely.

The presentation focused on the TRC recommendations specific to Justice. Four TRC recommendations were reviewed: 1) Educating lawyers (see 27 & 28 below:); 2) Overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in prison (see 30 below); and 3) Community programs (see 31 below).

Justice Calls to Action

27) We call upon the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

28) We call upon law schools in Canada to require all law students to take a course in Aboriginal people and the law, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

30) We call upon federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in custody over the next decade, and to issue detailed annual reports that monitor and evaluate progress in doing so.

31) We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to provide sufficient and stable funding to implement and evaluate community sanctions that will provide realistic alternatives to imprisonment for Aboriginal offenders and respond to the underlying causes of offending.

I stated that 2023 marks eight years since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, and the fifth year that the Yellowhead Institute has been tracking progress of the Calls to Action. In their Calls to Action Accountability: A 2023 Status Update on Reconciliation report, zero calls to action were completed, and over eight years since the release of the 94 Calls to Action, 81 Calls remain unfulfilled.

I posed two key questions that had bearing on this profession, those being, What about the four Justice recommendations? and What other major recommendations remain incomplete?

In relation to the first question, all four of the justice recommendations noted below remain incomplete. They didn’t seem overly surprised.

With respect to the other main recommendations, I stated that they were all important with 81 remaining to be accomplished, and we as a country need to demonstrate the fortitude to do the right things to see all recommendations fulfilled. One of the students indicated that she heard that at this rate, sadly, all 94 calls to action would only be completed in 2065.

I concluded my talk by stating that the TRC is not simply a check-list nor is it a report card. I would suggest it is about nationhood, and a moral and legal obligation of meeting core human values. Only in 2023, did Universities Canada release their commitment to ‘reconciliation’ in broad terms. I would suggest that there is still an enormous gap between ‘aspirational’ statements and ‘commitments’ and the day-to-day reality of living action through reconciliation. The law students were very appreciative of my addressing recommendation 28, albeit just a brief exploration and dialogue, and not a full course.

The matter of reconciliation is monumental. There is so much to consider, and where does one really begin in writing about reconciliation? After some reflection, it came to me. The following topic is one which I have some knowledge, understanding, and experience, albeit, in a learning capacity.

Reconciliation through Education

TRC Chief Commissioner Murray Sinclair, at the end of his tenure as TRC Commissioner, stated,

“Education is the key to reconciliation,” and for clarity and vision added, “education got us into this mess, and education will get us out of this mess”. He then stated, “I said that on the final day of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Education is not about being in school. Education is about learning what it means to be a human being,” (Algonquin Times, 2023).

I have taken up Elder Sinclair’s words as an educator, and these resonate on quite many levels. Education is about learning to survive in a complex world, and understanding our place and responsibility during this walk with it. My experience goes beyond the teaching I’ve done for two Atlantic Canadian universities, Saint Thomas University and the University of Prince Edward Island, for close to 30 years or the founding a new IKERAS Faculty, it also involves understanding the challenge of changing a colonial structure. To be clear, the work of integrating Indigenous scholarship and voice into the academy is not a ‘walk in the park’.

As new Indigenous scholars take up the TRC’s calls to action, there is a need through research to fully understand Canadian post-secondary education as it undergoes a revitalization of values and practices as a response to acknowledging the harms caused by colonial practices and structures, and to make universities safe and inclusive places where the wok of education can occur.

Through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded project, a research team of scholars, of which I was a collaborator, examined institutional policy and initiatives of 12 Atlantic Canadian universities intended to transform higher education to meet TRC reconciliation education goals and compared this with insights of Indigenous scholars’ roles, safe spaces, university approaches to change, culture shifting, relationships, and generational impacts. The research is concluding at the time of this textbook publication; but, we found a gap between what the universities are saying they want to do and the reality of life for Indigenous scholars within the academy. We were particularly interested in knowing the degree to which Atlantic Canadian universities engage a Nation to Nation approach, acknowledging the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples (Snow, Mackinnon, Chappell, Varis, & Hudson, 2024).

In a recent book review of Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Education: Critical Perspectives (Eds. Sandra D. Styres & Arlo Kempf, 2022), I introduced the review in this way,

“I reviewed Troubling with the hope, in transitioning full-time into the academy, that I would be provided solutions to a well-known ‘reconciliation in education’ predicament. Seven years after the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report (2015), while the book through its many chapter contributors does not profess to provide definitive answers on reconciliation, the truths it does present, some troubling, some poignant, are real. In the introduction entitled, A Troubling Place to Start: Reconciliation in Collapse, Kempf et al. get to the heart of the never-ending impasse, “We watch as many school boards and universities fumble awkwardly through land acknowledgements.

Universities often assert commitments to “Indigenize the academy” …and develop grammars of colonial benevolence while simultaneously holding firm on practices of colonial reproduction” (p. xix). So, continues the difficult dialogue on how we, Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, administrators, and staff, should bring about reconciliation at essential sites of learning. While Indigenous scholars are more than aware of what is required and how to proceed, there are ‘forces at play’ which become abundantly clear in this book” (Varis, 2023).

You can read the complete yet short book review; however, I concluded the review with the following,

“Troubling truth and reconciliation in our schools and universities, and in society, means a complete accounting of those influential ‘forces at play’. This work offers truths that are timely and needed. This critical ‘autopsy’ of Canadian education, must be understood from perspectives which are, on the one hand, brutally honest and troubling; yet hopeful and inspiring, on the other. There are well-defined opportunities that emerge from the reading of this book. While I suggest that new and prospective Indigenous scholars and] allies could benefit from reading this text, the very individuals who must read it are those ultimately accountable on whether reconciliation in Canadian education fails or success.

They include Ministers of Education, public school and post-secondary institution senior administrators, public school and post-secondary Boards, Deans and Principals, Union and Faculty Association representatives, and all non-Indigenous faculty and teachers. Further, students and public wishing to understand reconciliation in education will find this book an honest appraisal of the current challenges and hopeful aspirations of those engaged in this work. The authors of Troubling Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Education: Critical Perspectives have accomplished the goal of educating us while contributing to valuable knowledge regarding truth and reconciliation in Canadian education” (Varis, 2023).

We know there is movement in post-secondary institutions to take a greater role in advancing reconciliation in Canada. In a recent announcement on Universities Canada’s commitments to truth and reconciliation, a membership association that supports the presidents of over 90 public and non-profit universities in Canada, stated on Policies, strategic plans and governance,

“Universities commit to advancing truth as a step toward reconciliation. This includes acknowledging their role in colonialism and the legacy of residential schools in education in Canada. Universities affirm their commitment to supporting the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action; Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people; the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples; and provincial commissions and reports regarding Indigenous peoples and their rights.

Universities commit to developing opportunities for Indigenous students, faculty, researchers, staff and leaders at every level of the institution through governance structures, policies, and strategies that respect and make space for Indigenous expertise, Knowledges and cultures” (Universities Canada, 2023).

Respecting Teaching and learning, they state,

“Universities commit to supporting the Indigenization of curricula through things such as responsive academic programming, support programs, orientations, and pedagogies and to making room for Indigenous Knowledges and ways of knowing throughout diverse fields of study, including opportunities for Elders and Knowledge Keepers in university structures” (Universities Canada, 2023).

And, finally on, Supporting people, they add,

“Universities commit to supporting Indigenous-led resurgence and revitalization and to improving representation of Indigenous talent at the governance level and among faculty, professional and administrative staff. Acknowledging the additional stressors and duties often asked of Indigenous faculty and staff, universities commit to providing supports, resources and recognition to ensure the advancement and retention of those staff.

Universities commit to ensuring that non-Indigenous students, faculty, staff and leadership have the training and resources they need to uphold their responsibility to work towards reconciliation and decolonization across their institutions” (Universities Canada, 2023).

We will see how our post-secondary institutions respond to these commitments. As you know, at UPEI, we have made a historic move to introduce a new Faculty. We are a long way away from proclaiming success. We are at the beginning of a new pathway. The mandated IKE 1040 course is a direct response to the TRC calls to action, and we are exceptionally pleased to be playing a role in introducing that which the TRC has recommended. Our Faculty is organizing and evolving (see Figure 52). The hard work is daily, and will continue across the generations.

Figure 52: IKERAS Faculty group photo (August 2023)

I am grateful for the Faculty as for the longest time, I was the sole, ‘indian in the academy’ teachings students about Indigenous peoples and their lives. Having a Faculty devoted to teaching and learning a distinct worldview has been the vision of many including those who have since left and allies who understand what this struggle is all about. To have our ways of knowing, being, and doing as distinct ontological, axiological, epistemological, and methodological approaches to create knowledge so we may fully understand our world to the extent that we can honour, live, and survive with all our relations, has been a journey that our warrior scholars have been on for some time. If assimilation has been replaced by working together, then let us do so, in the full spirit of reconciliation and education for the 21st century.

I would be remiss if I did not include other voices in what reconciliation means to them. Let’s take a minute to listen.

What Does Truth & Reconciliation Mean To You?

Lastly, I would like to conclude this section with a brief video with Murray Sinclair, who I have grown to admire and respect dearly.

TRC Mini Documentary – Senator Murray Sinclair on Reconciliation

Let us now focus on another concept that I have been advocating, that being, responsible citizenship.

Exploring Responsible Citizenship

You may remember the first section of the textbook, titled, Responsible Citizenship. Maybe it’s long forgotten; but, I did tie the concept into the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work. I stated,

“Ever since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report and Calls to Action in 2015 as well as listening to interviews with Commissioner Murray C. Sinclair, who has also served in the Senate of Canada as well as being the first Indigenous person to serve as judge on the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, I have been thinking about the key action we are asking our citizenry….

It was after a guest lecture on Indigenous peoples and their cultures to a group of newcomers in 2020 it dawned on me that what we are asking every citizen to do is demonstrate responsible citizenship in our day-today lives. As an educator, and in response to the TRC’s Calls to Action, my job is to create a learning opportunity that educates our students about what responsible citizenship means and looks like through this period of reconciliation. I contend that we are quickly seeing our society and other societies in the world at a cross-roads as we see grave mistakes of the past being repeated. In one word. it’s disrespect. Disrespect for all our relations on Mother Earth, living and non-living….

What may seem isolated to Canada is not necessarily so. We must understand that ‘colonization’ and ‘colonizing’ behaviours, presenting as other ideologies and practices, are still in existence and present themselves globally. We must consider the broader need to commit to responsible global citizenship in this period of reconciliation”.

I repeat some of the important considerations around this concept that I must admit will require additional exploration. There are several writings and views on this concept; but, I did locate though, a very succinct video that captures brilliantly how Indigenous peoples ‘frame’ responsibility.

Rights Versus Responsibilities: An Indigenous Perspective

Hai Hai, Toghestiy and Mel Bazil. This was filmed on stolen Gixtsan and Wet’suwet’en territories.

This is the perspective on responsibility that is most aligned to my concepts of responsible citizenship and responsible global citizenship. On the latter, I present an article titled, Reconciliation and Global Citizenship Education in Canada, written by Charlene Bearhead for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2021.

So there will be more that will on this conceptual follow in due course.

References 

Snow, K., Mackinnon, K., Chappell, C., Varis, D., & Hudson, L. (2024). Full Participation: a progress report on Atlantic Canadian Universities institutional response to Indigenization. KSG Knowledge Mobilization Forum – Shifting Dynamics of Privilege and Marginalization. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – Government of Canada.

Truth, & Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary: Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf

Universities Canada. (2023). Universities Canada’s Commitments to Truth and Reconciliation. https://univcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Universities-Canada-Truth-and-Reconciliation-Commitments-ENG.pdf

Varis, D. (2023). Book Review: Troubling Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Education: Critical Perspectives. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 46(1), vii-x. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.6037