Statement by the Commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada on the January 11, 2013 Meeting between representatives of the Assembly of First Nations and the Federal Government as represented by the Prime Minister of Canada and Members of the Federal Cabinet.

As Commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), we take very
seriously our mandate to assist the country to move forward in a spirit of reconciliation to
recognize and overcome the historical legacy of Indian Residential Schools in Canada. As such,
we feel moved to comment on this forthcoming meeting.

We express our profound hope that all those who participate in this historic dialogue will do so
with a keen sense of purpose and a clear understanding that a great deal is at stake.
We ground our hope significantly in the belief that Canada’s Apology to former students of
Indian Residential Schools delivered in June 2008 was intended to establish, and will ultimately
be seen as having established, a milestone in the relationship between Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal people in this country.

In that Apology, the Prime Minister and Leaders of all political parties in Parliament clearly
repudiated the gross injustices committed by Canada against Aboriginal children, their families
and communities, and recognized the devastating and ongoing legacy of Indian Residential
Schools. Also contained in the Prime Minister’s Apology was a commitment to forge “a new
relationship between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on … a
respect for each other and a desire to move forward together.”

As Commissioners, we have received more than 4,000 statements from former Residential
School students and their descendents. A great deal has been said to us about the ongoing
Aboriginal struggle for recognition, human dignity, healing and justice. Inevitably, these
struggles are relayed to us in the context of real lives, in which wider issues such as health,
education, housing, employment and the environment are at play. We can report unreservedly
that many of the sentiments expressed by Aboriginal leaders and by members of the Idle No
More movement align very closely with what Residential School Survivors and their family
members have told us in more than 300 communities across the country.

We have heard also from many non-Aboriginal Canadians who express shock and dismay at
what went on in the schools, but also their own sense of shame that their country has not
properly come to terms with this past.

 Of particular interest to us are the many points of view we have heard about the issue of
reconciliation. While there is a wide range of interpretation concerning what reconciliation might
mean, all speak of the need for a shift away from the attitudes that led to Residential Schools in
the first place: cultural disrespect, assimilation, unilateralism, colonialism, racism, economic codependence,
poverty, isolation, and the lack of adequate support and any meaningful say. Yet
many have told us they still face these same things today. The resulting anger and distrust are
further obstacles to positive change and, ultimately, to reconciliation.

Our own working definition of reconciliation has to do with the restoration of Aboriginal selfrespect
and the establishment of a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal peoples in this country. We believe that the Governments of this country can govern
while still respecting the right of Aboriginal Peoples to maintain their legal, cultural and political
identities under our Constitution. We view the upcoming dialogue as offering a very real
possibility of laying the foundation for a process leading to such reconciliation.

It has been our understanding all along that Canada’s Apology did not mark closure to the story
of the Indian Residential Schools in Canada – nor was it intended to do so. On the contrary, we
continue to view it as the foundation for a new reality in Canada. We look forward to a day when
all Canadians carry a new sense of themselves as equal partners in a great country. We urge all to
reflect jointly and carefully on the nature of the relationship that would most benefit all
Canadians, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and in Friday’s meeting, to begin to lay the
foundation for its creation.



Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair
Dr. Marie Wilson
Chief Wilton Littlechild
January 10, 2013