Truth and Reconciliation

On June 11, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized on behalf of all Canadians for the Indian Residential Schools system. He is quoted as saying, "The government recognizes that the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation. Therefore on behalf of the Government of Canada, and  all Canadians, I stand before you, in this Chamber so central to our life as a country, to apologize to Aboriginal peoples for Canada’s role in the Indian Residential Schools system" (CBC News, 2008, p.2). 

It was  determined that the government of Canada , the Roman Catholic, Anglican and United Church had  all been responsible for  causing harm to Indigenous people their families and communities between  1860 and the final closing of the last federally run school in 1996. As a result all three churches apologized for the effects of the Residential schools. The Anglican Church apologized in 1993, the United church in 1986, and the Presbyterian Church in 1994, all far earlier than did the Canadian Government.  In the year 2001 as a result of the rulings of the courts, these churches paid reparations that were to be given to Indigenous survivors who proved that they had attended a residential school. This money was given as reparation in order to help with treatment to improve their lives (Aboriginal Running, 2010).

 

Many of the survivors of Canada’s residential schools are elderly. In an article from CBC News, it indicates that “the average age of a residential school survivor is 57 years old. It is estimated that every day 5 survivors die”.  These individuals entered into the school system at a young age and have felt the effects of the schools for all of their lives. The impact that the damage of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse has had on Residential school survivors has resulted in many lawsuits against the Canadian government  as was pointed out by Chrisjohn, Wasacase, Nussey, Smith, Legault, Loiselle & Bourgeois (2002), “ The occurrence of sexual, physical and emotional abuse that occurred in residential schools that aroused the public interest,  stimulated governmental action and formed the basis for more than 8,000 civil charges against churches and the government”(p2). As a result of the law suits and allegations, in 2005 the Canadian Government issued an announcement that there would be a two billion dollar compensation package set out for survivors of residential schools. Part of the details of the agreement included an initial payout for each person who attended a residential school of $10,000, plus 3,000 per year, over 80,000 individuals are eligible. (CBC News, 2008)

                        

In 2008 another landmark event occurred, Prime Minister Steven Harper’s apology. This apology by the Nation’s leader marks the first formal apology for Residential Schools by the Canadian Government. The public’s reaction to this statement was mixed, some thought that the apology was well done, others felt that there was too much information left out, while some individuals simply thought this apology was not it was not enough (CBC News, 2008).

 

The Canadian government formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as part of the court approved Residential School Settlement Agreement. It was negotiated between legal counsel for former students, legal counsel for churches, the Government of Canada, the Assembly of First Nations and other Aboriginal organizations (CBC News, 2008).  

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada was modeled after the truth and reconciliation hearings of post-apartheid South Africa. Its purpose is to help repair some of the emotional and psychological damages caused by government mandated schools and to help build new relationships between Canada's Indigenous People and everyone else (Whyte, 2009).  It is an official independent body that will provide former students and anyone else who has been affected by the residential schools to have opportunity to tell their stories (CBC News, 2008).

 

On July 1 2009, Justice Murray Sinclair the new chair of the commission of Manitoba, and commissioners Chief Wilton Little Child of Alberta and Marie Wilson a broadcaster from the Northwest territories formally began their five year mandate to travel around Canada in order to create a record of what had happened in Canada's Indian Residential schools between the years 1886- and 1996 (Whyte, 2009). Together these three members of the TRC will record the testimonies of our Indigenous people about their experiences in the Residential  School system that had been organized by the government and the Anglican, United, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic Church. TRC member Marie Wilson stated that "We did not get to choose our history. We cannot change the pain which Residential schools has caused, we can take a stand to support  the Aboriginal people in Canada they are important" (Aboriginal Running, 2010).

In reading research and by listening to a former residential school survivor the TRC experience has not been pleasant.  A former residential school survivor is quoted as saying “For a lot of people, when they tell your story, it’s the first time they’ve told anyone. It takes courage to tell someone else what happened to them and it is traumatic but with each telling it gets easier" (Whyte, 2009).

I had the opportunity to speak with an elderly residential school survivor who explained of the difficulties of telling her story. In fact she has decided not to tell her story because the pain is to unbearable to speak about.  The TRC may be looked at as a step for Indigenous people to heal from their experiences but it can’t erase what has happened. The residential school survivor experience for our Indigenous people can never be forgotten.

Arlene