Policies for Truth and Reconciliation

“Together, Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practice reconciliation in our every day lives—within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools and workplaces.”
-Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Final Report Volume 1, Summary of Findings

“Governments like to write…policy, and they like to write legation, and they like to codify things and so on. And Aboriginal peoples want to talk about restoration, reconciliation, forgiveness, about healing…about truth. And those things are all things of the heart and of relationship, and not of government policy. Governments do a bad job of that.”
-The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Statement to the and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Winnipeg, Manitoba, 16 June 2010
Statement Number: SC093

In June 2015 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded its six-year investigation of the residential school system. For over 100 years, the residential school system was a central element of Canada’s Aboriginal policy, and had as its primary goal the assimilation of Aboriginal peoples. The Commission concluded that this policy can be described as “cultural genocide.”

In its final report, the Commission made broad recommendations for changes to educational, health, legal, and child welfare policies that will contribute to reconciliation. In this talk I will review the findings and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and discuss the challenges to creating reconciliation through policy. Focusing on the realm of planning, I will also consider the implications of these recommendations for policy making in the municipal sector.

Heather Dorries is an Assistant Professor in SPPA's Indigenous Policy and Administration programs.

Please note: This talk will be webcast using Big Blue Button and may be recorded. Please see below for login instructions.
For participants who cannot attend in person:

Not on campus? Not a problem! You can still join and participate in this talk.

Please go to:
http://sppa.blindsidenetworks.net/sppa/ and login using the “room” named SPPA-Talk

To do so, you simply need to type in your own full name and use the following password (lowercase): welcome

You will be able to listen to the conversation, ask questions using the chat function or use your USB microphone to participate!

Please watch this short tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9mbw00P9W0

If you do not have a working microphone or a stable internet connection, you will be able to join this meeting by phone Just go to the conference website. http://sppa.blindsidenetworks.net/sppa/. and go to the room named SPPA-Talks. There you will find a phone number to dial as well as a pin number.