Systemic Discrimination & The Indian Residential School System:
Implementation and Evaluation of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada

Executive Summary

The Indian Residential Schools (IRS) system was a source of intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities throughout the more than 150 years these institutions were open in Canada. These federally-operated schools ran on neocolonial policies of assimilation via separation of children from their families, rendering Indigenous cultures ideologically inferior to Canadian settler colonialism. Truth and Reconciliation became one of the most important policies of the 20th and 21st centuries to formally address the federal government’s complicity in this systemic discrimination and has been a method for acknowledging and validating histories of abuse that have been largely repressed in the national collective memory. The first part of this section focuses on the history of residential schools beginning with the Indian Act, the path towards Reconciliation as a formal policy concept in the 1990s, and the post-implementation period of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2015 to 2020. The second part of this section aims to interrogate the narrative of “progress” and evaluate whether or not the goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have been adequately achieved.

Introduction

To understand the Canadian federal government’s relationship with Indigenous peoples, it is important to examine the responsiveness of policies in addressing the impacts of the Indian Residential School (IRS) System. The IRS System was a federally-funded church-run education system under the Department of Indian Affairs that adhered to a policy of “aggressive assimilation” for its over-100-year duration.[1] In this context, the Government’s assimilationist policies were created with two primary objectives: to remove and isolate Indigenous children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate Indigenous children into the dominant culture.[2] The aggressive nature of this assimilation relied on physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by leaders and teachers of these institutions, which has caused irreparable damage to the cultural and psychosocial welfare of Indigenous communities.

Truth and Reconciliation emerged as a movement in the 1990s when Indigenous leaders called for the churches that were part of the IRS System to be held accountable for the wide-scale human rights abuses that occurred there and to address the need for a comprehensive victim compensation structure.[3] In this context, “truth” can be defined as the platform for Indigenous community members to share their experiences with the Canadian public, and to educate people about the history and legacy of the residential school system. “Reconciliation,” both within and beyond the scope of the Truth and Reconciliation framework, can be characterized as a policy in which Canada works with leaders of Indigenous communities to design a national engagement strategy and develop a reconciliation framework, usually with reparations.[4] Truth and Reconciliation as a Canadian federal policy was born out of this movement under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s leadership, and continues to be considered a policy priority under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Evaluating the implementation of Truth and Reconciliation is complex. Reconciling for over a century and a half of abuse requires questions about the extent to which victims of these institutions can be provided closure and healing. The erasure of residential schools from the history books of the Canadian curriculum has limited conversations about the IRS System in classrooms, at dinner tables, and in the collective memory of the nation. This first part of this discussion will examine the history, path towards, and implementation of Truth and Reconciliation through the work and legacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The second part will focus on evaluating whether the goals of the Commission were met by the standards of Indigenous communities and policy evaluators at large.

History of Systemic Discrimination

Following confederation in1876, the Indian Act was enacted. This Act provided a formal assimilation tool that could be used by the Canadian federal government to control certain aspects of Indigenous peoples’ lives, including, Indian status, land, resources, education, and band administration.[5] Throughout this Act were several sections that allowed the federal government to establish Indian Residential Schools.[6] The Act would be amended throughout the 19th century to make attendance compulsory for all Indigenous children.[7] In total, over 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend.[8] The extent of the atrocities that occurred at these institutions is impossible to quantify, with the TRC estimating at least 3,200 Indigenous children died in the residential schools, while the Chair of the TRC, Justice Murray Sinclair, believes the number to be over 6,000.[9]

Residential schools were established with the mandate of educating Indigenous children by removing and isolating them from their families and communities and assimilating them into “the dominant culture” at institutions located across the country.”[10] The education techniques used at these institutions followed traditional settler colonial notions that Indigenous peoples’ cultures are inherently inferior to the dominant white-European Canadian culture.[11] This assimilation took the form of enforcing Christianity and requiring children to speak English and French.  Children often lived away from their families in substandard, gender-segregated living conditions.[12]There, children were abused physically, emotionally, and sexually, and the staff at the schools carried out nutritional experiments on the often malnourished children[13] When children arrived home, families were often unable to communicate with their children because of the new cultural, linguistic, and literacy barriers.[14]

The phasing out of residential schools began in 1969 when the Department of Indian Affairs assumed responsibility for the schools from the Catholic Church.[15] However, many schools still quietly operated until the last school closure in 1996.[16] The dark legacy left behind from these institutions has contributed to social inequities and systemic discrimination that continues to be pervasive throughout the country.[17]

The path towards Truth and Reconciliation began in the 1990s, when Indigenous leaders demanded accountability from political and religious organizations for the human rights abuses of the IRS System, paving a way toward formal policies of Truth and Reconciliation used for evaluation of reparations today.

A Path Towards Truth and Reconciliation

The emergence of Truth and Reconciliation on the public agenda in the 1990s can be attributed to Phil Fontaine, the leader of the Association of Manitoba Chiefs, who called on Churches to acknowledge their complicity in inciting traumas faced by survivors of residential schools.[18] Fontaine was one of the first people to speak openly about the abuse he endured in the residential school system, and his story inspired open dialogue that led to survivors playing a key role in negotiating the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the subsequent establishment of the TRC.[19]

On 26 August 1991, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) convened for the first time following the aftermath of the 1990 crisis in Oka, Quebec.[20] The Oka Crisis, a violent land dispute between the Mohawk peoples of Oka and the Canadian Government and army, was a catalyst for the creation of a formal First Nations policy. RCAP’s mandate was to “investigate and propose solutions to the challenges affecting the relationship between Indigenous peoples, the Canadian government, and Canadian society as a whole.[21]” The Commission’s 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples outlines a 20-year agenda for change, and recommends a separate public inquiry into residential schools.[22] The main conclusion of the report calls for “a complete restructuring of the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada” and advocates for “major constitutional discussions on issues affecting Aboriginal peoples and communities.”[23]

In the decades following RCAP’s report, the 444 recommendations have not been addressed. There was little response from provincial governments that viewed the report as a federal initiative, and the desire for constitutional reform was minimal.[24]

In 1998, Jane Stewart, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, issued a Statement of Reconciliation at the unveiling of Gathering Strength — Canada’s Aboriginal Action Plan.[25] Stewart expressed profound regret on behalf of the federal government for its treatment of Indigenous peoples, calling special attention to the residential school system. Stewart’s statement was accompanied by a commitment of $350 million for community-based healing due to residential schools.[26]

Following this announcement, federal negotiators met with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) to determine the points of the response. Chief Fontaine remarked that the AFN was proud of the role it played, and formally accepted the government’s apology.[27] However, many Indigenous peoples and psychologists took issue with the vaguely appointed funds and with the apology itself, particularly the lack of acknowledgement around the intent in the assimilationist policies that underpinned the residential school system.[28] Indigenous leaders expressed disappointment with the lack of specific mention of the Métis people, while others criticized the weakness of the apology and the adequacy of the $350 million endowments for achieving the level of healing that would be required for the intergenerational trauma inflicted on their communities.[29]

In 2007 Truth and Reconciliation reached the formal policy agenda with The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.[30] The Settlement introduced five elements to address the legacy of residential schools:[31]

• a Common Experience Payment for all eligible former students of Indian Residential Schools,
• an Independent Assessment Process for claims of sexual or serious physical abuse,
• measures to support healing such as the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program and an endowment to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation,
• commemorative activities, and
• the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission

In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an apology on behalf of the federal government for the residential school system.[32] He acknowledged the government’s culpability in the assimilationist policies IRS system. That same year the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established.[33] In his apology, Prime Minister Harper referenced the TRC as an opportunity to educate Canadians on residential schools and forge new relationships between Indigenous peoples and all Canadians.[34]

Implementation of Truth and Reconciliation

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in June 2008 to “facilitate reconciliation among former students, their families, their communities and all Canadians.”[35] The TRC was built in part from Minister Stewart’s 1998 Statement of Reconciliation and the principles developed by the Working Group on Truth and Reconciliation of the Exploratory Dialogues in 1998 and 1999. The goals of the commission were to:[36]

• acknowledge the experiences of residential school survivors;
• provide a safe space for survivors to come forward;
• support and promote events at the national and community level;
• promote awareness and public education about the IRS system;
• create a report of recommendations for the Canadian government; and
• support the commemoration of former students and their families.

The Commission was chaired by the Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, with Commissioners Dr. Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild.[37]

In 2011, as part of the Settlement Agreement, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the TRC jointly launched a $20 million commemoration initiative to provide former students, their families, and communities the opportunity to pay tribute to their experiences by acknowledging the impacts of the residential school system.[38] By March 2013, 75 contribution agreements under this initiative were in place, including plaques, gardens, and totem poles, as well as the development of museum exhibitions and community gatherings.[39]

Between 2007 and 2016, the Government of Canada provided $72 million to support the TRC, which travelled across Canada to hear from 6,500 witnesses, and hosted seven national events to educate Canadians about the history and legacy of the IRS System.[40] This culminated in 2015 when the TRC presented its findings in a series of reports, and publication of the 94 Calls to Action. These calls to action were separated into six categories: child welfare, education, language and culture, health, justice, and reconciliation.[41] A complete version of the report documenting the experiences of the survivors was also released, titled Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.[42] The TRC dissolved on June 30th, 2015 after completing its mandate, leaving recording and researching of the impact of residential schools to be run by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.

Of the 94 calls to action, 76 of them fall under federal jurisdiction.[43] As part of the Settlement Agreement, the federal government committed to working closely with the provinces, territories, and Indigenous groups to implement the recommendations, including implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (call to action #44).[44] Since the release of the Commission’s 2015 report, analysts from the CBC and Yellowhead Research Institute at Ryerson University in Toronto have made concerted efforts toward tracking the progress of implementation of the Calls to Action. The Federal Government also monitors recent developments on the Calls to Action on its webpage, Delivering on Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action.

Following the 20th anniversary of the RCAP report in 2016, Dr. Ian Mosby and Dr. Eva Jewell at the Yellowhead Institute began an annual update of the government’s progress in implementing the Calls to Action.[45] At the time, no major media outlet or public organization was tracking the implementation, except for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which did not evaluate the completion of individual calls to action.[46] In 2018, the CBC began evaluating the implementation of the Calls to Action by measuring the status of each in a news interactive entitled Beyond 94 [47]. However, methodologies differ between the two institutions. Dr. Mosby and Dr. Jewell have criticized the progress-oriented tracking approach of the CBC as it implies that because Calls to Action have been met on a year-to-year basis, there has been a progression toward reconciliation.[48]Their approach, however, relies on analyzing the full completion of a Call to Action by examining whether its implementation produced the structural changes necessary to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples.[49]

In February 2019, in keeping with the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) principles under the TRC’s Call to Action number 44, the federal government introduced Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families.[50] This Act has the goal of reducing the number of Indigenous children in care centres and affirms and recognizes Indigenous peoples’ jurisdiction over child and family services.[51] In the December 2019 Throne Speech, Prime Minister Trudeau stated that legislation would be introduced within a year to implement UNDRIP, but as of October 2020, this Call to Action is still in proposed status.[52]

In 2020, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation published its five-year report outlining the Centre’s ongoing implementation of the TRC’s mandate following the TRC’s dissolution.[53] Some accomplishments highlighted in the report include:[54]

• launching the National Student Memorial Register
• partnering in the launch of the first national Indigenous Peoples atlas
• being included in the Canada Memory of the World Register
• both hosting and visiting with several international Truth and Reconciliation initiatives around the world

Recently, there have been strides in establishing symbolic educational initiatives in acknowledgement of the residential school experience and the cultural genocide it caused. In September 2020, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault, introduced Bill C-5 to establish National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as a step in implementing Call to Action number 80.[55] On September 30, 2020, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation partnered with RBC for the virtual event Every Child Matters: Reconciliation Through Education.[56] The event for Canadian children in grades 5 to 12 honoured residential school survivors, their families, and communities by learning first-hand about their experiences at these institutions. [57]

Conclusion

The degree to which the implementation of these Calls to Action have been successful, however, depends on both the level to which policies of Truth and Reconciliation have been effectively implemented in the eyes of Indigenous peoples and policy analysts. The second part of this discussion will look closer at whether the goals of the TRC have been successfully met in the five years since the report was published, the successes and failures of the initiatives that have been implemented, and the other Calls to Action currently at different stages of completion.