By: Sofia Chassomeris, News Writer
Content warning: mentions of residential schools, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and colonialism.
With the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, advocates are bringing attention to the “minimal to no progress” made regarding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) 94 Calls to Action (CTAs). The CTAs were created for the Canadian government to acknowledge and educate on the history of the Canadian residential school system and implement policies to improve the lives of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These policies aim to “ensure, through thorough and honest education, that this never happens again.”
The TRC was formed in 2008 following Canada’s largest class-action settlement. The settlement was to address the history of residential schools and the continuation of colonial violence against Indigenous Peoples. CBC News reported that “from 2008 to 2014, the TRC heard stories from thousands of residential school survivors.” These personal accounts informed the development of the 94 CTAs, specifically intended for “corporate, community, and classroom anti-racist training.”
The CTAs carry out the Commission’s two main goals: legacy and reconciliation. The legacy CTAs contain policies for educating the public on the history of residential schools and their lasting impact on Indigenous communities. The Reconciliation Education website highlights the “modern-day effects” of this cultural genocide, including overrepresentation in the child welfare system, limited education opportunities, and inequity of justice and health.
In 2022, the BC Premier’s office released a statement identifying that they represent two-thirds of all children in provincial care despite making up less than 10% of the province’s child population.
Settler-colonial laws imposed on Indigenous Peoples were structured for assimilation to European culture and meant to “extinguish their communities, cultures, and ways of life.” 1951 amendments to the Indian Act, for instance, allowed provincial jurisdiction over Indigenous child welfare. After amendments to the Act, provincial child welfare agencies began to remove Indigenous children from their homes and rehouse them in non-Indigenous families. The Sixties Scoop drastically increased the amount of Indigenous children in provincial child and family services.
It wasn’t until 2020 that the Canadian federal government enacted legislation that allowed Indigenous Peoples the right to “exercise jurisdiction over child and family services.” Similarly, the reconciliation CTAs aim to “meaningfully and permanently dismantle the systemic racism that leads to worse health outcomes, premature death, and limited economic opportunities.”
The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health noted that “racist ideologies have fostered a social hierarchy in which Indigenous Peoples are denied resources while dominant groups maintain authority and power.” Safe drinking water is an example of this. While Canada has the “fourth largest resources of renewable fresh water in the world,” 27 reserves received long-term advisories to not consume, use, or boil water in 2022. 30% of Indigenous communities have “high risk” water systems, leaving more Indigenous Peoples susceptible to waterborne diseases.
Beyond 94, which is a CBC interactive site, monitors the progress made on the 94 CTAs. It shows that only 13 CTAs have been completed since the CTAs were created in 2015. 33 CTAs are currently in progress, while the remaining 48 have either not been started or are in proposal stages. “I think the urgency of it all has not adequately dawned on everyone,” said Marie Wilson, one of three TRC commissioners. Wilson shared her concern about the government’s slow rise to action in 2022, but the number of completed CTAs has not increased since.
“So why is it important to understand the history of genocide in Canada?” asks Dr. Pamela Palmater, Mi’kmaw lawyer and chair in Indigenous Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University. “Because it’s not history. Today’s racist government laws, policies, and actions have proven to be just as deadly for Indigenous Peoples as the genocidal acts of the past.” She states this from the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
