On September 30, 2022 the School of Public Policy and Administration seeks to commemorate reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in a public event. In 2018, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Call to Action 80 seeks to honour Survivors, families and communities to ensure commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools.

In 2007, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association formally began Canada’s only Indigenous-led and Indigenous-funded truth commission — the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC). As Executive Director, Madeleine Redfern was involved in all aspects of the QTC’s work from the design of the commission’s work to negotiating access to government records to reporting. Through a conversation with Julie Harris, the QTC’s research coordinator and co-author of QTC reports, Madeleine will reflect on how the QTC’s work fits into the landscape of reconciliation and Canada’s commitment to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Madeleine Redfern from Iqaluit, Nunavut has a great deal of governance and volunteer experience with Indigenous and Inuit organizations. She is a graduate of the Akitsiraq Law School with an LLB from the University of Victoria and the first Inuk to be given a Supreme Court of Canada clerkship. Indspire Award recipient for her contributions to Public Service. Madeleine was the Executive Director of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, which reviewed the “effects of federal government policies on Eastern Arctic Inuit” between the 1950s and 1980s. Her advocacy, professional, and governance work has shown her dedication and passion toward the development and delivery of programs assisting Aboriginal, Inuit, northerners and Canadians that reflect community values, needs, and priorities.

Julie Harris is a public historian and heritage professional based in Ottawa whose firm, Contentworks, worked on the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC) to from 2008 to 2013. Julie has worked for other Indigenous organizations and communities, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Treaty 8 Tribal Association, the Indigenous Heritage Circle, and (IHC) and the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (BC). She recently co-authored a study for the IHC on UNDRIP.