NAME OF MECHANISM

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

PERIOD OF OPERATION

7 January 1998 – present. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established on 7 January 1998 but only finalised the appointment of commissioners on 10 June 2009. The mandate stipulates five years of operation.

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is unique in examining primarily the experiences of children, specifically those of Aboriginal children in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools over a period of more than 150 years. The commission has a wide mandate, including acknowledging the consequences of Residential School experiences on children, organising truth and reconciliation events at the national and community levels, providing a safe setting for testifying witnesses, promoting public education about the Residential School system and its impact and creating a historical record of the system and its legacy.

The commission has the power to gather evidence from former students and their families and to hold events and public meetings in order to do so. Overall, however, the commission’s powers are limited. It is prohibited from holding formal hearings or conducting formal legal processes. It also does not have subpoena powers and is forbidden from suggesting the possible civil or criminal liability of any person or organisation. The commission has to have the express consent of witnesses to use statements or evidence gathered through any of its activities.

Staff: Three Canadian commissioners, chaired by Justice Murray Sinclair. The other commissioners are Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild. A 10-member Indian Residential Schools Survivor Committee serves as an advisory body to the TRC. The members of this committee are Barney Williams, Jr., Doris Young, Eugene Arcand, Gordon Williams, John Banksland, John Morrisseau, Lottie May Johnson, Rebekah Uqi William, Terri Brown and Raymond Arcand (now deceased).

In January 2010, the TRC announced the appointment of four new directors. Lisa Meeches was appointed as the director of Events Planning and Artistic Programming, James Bardach as the director of Strategic Planning, Communications and Community Liaison, Dr. John Milloy as the director of Research, Historical Records and Report Preparation and Ry Moran as the director of Statement Gathering and National Research Centre. Later in 2010, the TRC appointed Robert Watt and Jennifer Hunt-Poitras as co-directors of the Inuit Sub-Commission, whose main duty is to ensure that the Inuits have full access to the truth-seeking process.

Budget: A planned budget of about US$60 million for five years [TRC].

RESOURCES

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada official website
Background to TRC [2011]
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Mandate [1998]

RESULTS

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work had a rocky start as Chairman Harry LaForme resigned in October 2008 because of “major differences” regarding the commission’s work between himself and the other two commissioners, Claudette Dumont-Smith and Jane Brewin Morley. Before his resignation, LaForme had expressed concerns about the independence of the commission from “political and bureaucratic interference” [CBC News | 20 Oct 2008]. Justice Murray Sinclair, an Aboriginal judge, was appointed as the new chairman on 10 June 2009, along with two new commissioners, Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild [CBC News | 11 Dec 2009].

On 19 June 2010, the TRC held its first national event in Winnipeg, which featured a traditional offering, an opportunity for survivors to share experiences, a powwow and a visit to historic sites [Governor General | 18 Jun 2010]. In March 2011, the commission began its Northern hearings in Inukjuak, Quebec, during which it heard numerous Nunavimmiut survivors and later reported that certain themes surfaced, including those of dislocation and isolation.

According to the commission, the system was implemented quickly and often aggressively in the North. Within one generation, the Inuit were forced from their nomadic hunter-gatherer existence to living in settlements with their children being sent away. Consequently, whole communities were devastated and forced to depend on a government allowance. The devastation of the Aboriginal communities has had long-term effects, as demonstrated by high suicide rates, teenage pregnancies and different forms of abuse.

BACKGROUND

From the 1840s to 1996, over 130 Indian Residential Schools were established across Canada. More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forcibly separated from their parents, families and communities and placed in the schools [TRC]. During their schooling, many suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse. In the most extreme cases, some died while attending the schools.

In the late 1990s, the Canadian government began establishing the TRC in order to examine these human rights abuses. In 2001, it also established the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada to attend to the numerous abuse claims filed by former Residential School students against the federal government [Background to TRC | 2011].

On 11 June 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on behalf of the government of Canada, issued an apology to former Residential School students, their families and their communities. The apology is considered to be an important step towards reconciliation. In September of the same year, the Canadian government formalised a US$2 billion compensation plan for victims [CBC News | 11 Jun 2008]. According to the plan, former Residential School students will receive a US$10,000 base compensation, as well as compensation of US$3,000 for every year they spent in the schools. Survivors of sexual or physical abuse will receive additional compensation [Prince Albert Daily Herald | 19 Dec 2008]. Altogether, 15,000 compensation applications have been lodged for physical and sexual assault. Overall, 24,000 of the 100,000 applications made to the compensation fund were rejected by the Canadian government as “not qualifying” because of lack of proof of attendance [GALDU | 28 Apr 2008].

SOURCES

[CBC News | 11 Jun 2008]
[CBC News | 20 Oct 2008]
[GALDU | 28 Apr 2008]
[Governor General | 18 Jun 2010]
[Prince Albert Daily Herald | 19 Dec 2008]