Truth and Reconciliation Commisson

‘We need to commit as a nation to preserving the stories and experiences that have come through this truth telling exercise, and have that instruct us as we go forward so it never happens in this country again.’ -Wab Kinew

At the end of March, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission held its final hearings. CBC’s The National looked at some  insight from a panel of experts including NSB speakers Gabrielle Scrimshaw and Wab Kinew. The panel discussed not only what’s been accomplished, but also what’s left to be done. Canada is now forward looking in terms of rebuilding and renewing Aboriginal relationships as well as the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians. This historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission contributes to increased transparency, discourse and healing. The TRC is a component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its mandate is to inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential Schools (IRS). The Commission will document the truth of survivors, families, communities and anyone personally affected by the IRS experience. The Commission notes that reconciliation is an ongoing individual and collective process and will require commitment from all those affected including First Nations, Inuit, Métis, former IRS students, their families, communities, religious entities, former school employees, government and the people of Canada. NSB’s Wab Kinew and Gabrielle Scrimshaw are considered a new generation of leading voices in Canada who are helping us move forward together. Wab Kinew’s perspective: Wab encourages audiences to ask themselves the same questions he asks himself: ‘If I were alive during that era, what would I have done?  Could I have stood up for justice and stood up for these children?  By forming a bond of empathy, I think we can start to change things today which are the echoes and legacies of the residential schools experience.  What can we do today to help the missing and murdered indigenous women and indigenous children in the welfare system and funding gap? We need to hear the truths and apply them to the contemporary context in which we now live. When I travel the country, I do hear Canadian’s saying they want to do right by indigenous people.  Do listen before you talk and try to impose solutions.  Indigenous people are smart, increasingly educated and empowered. We need Canadians to listen to us and partner with us for a better future. We need to commit as a nation to preserving the stories and experiences that have come through this truth telling exercise, and have that instruct us as we go forward so it never happens in this country again.’   Gabrielle Scrimshaw’s perspective: ‘We write our history as a country every single day. Through the choices we make, the things we say and don’t say.  Around our dinner tables and in our classrooms. There have been tensions between indigenous people and the government and there is a lack of trust that stems from that. But there is still an optimism.  Seven generations of indigenous people have gone through the residential schools. But we have been around for 1000’s of years through our culture and our history, and we will be around for 1000s more to come. There is optimism for the looking forward as a community. It’s difficult to hold a mirror up to ourselves and accept that this is the country we have grown up in.  True reconciliation is a process that will allow every Canadian to talk about things openly is a step in much larger journey. Reconciliation is about the relationship that it represents.  The truth is the first stepping stone.  It will take a multifaceted approach.  It involves both telling the truth, honouring the truth and resetting the relationship and understanding our shared relationship as Canadians.’   For more information on the TRC visit their website, for information on Gabrielle or Wab, visit their speaker profiles.