The art of reconciliation

Did you know that the Government of Canada signed a Statement of Reconciliation 25 years ago in response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples? This declaration marked a commitment by the government to reconcile with Indigenous Peoples, and to build a better future alongside them. But then, the story has to keep going. Where to start? How? What can I do, or what can we do? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a true commitment to establishing new, nation-to-nation relations based on recognition and mutual respect, gifted us with 94 Calls to Action meant to further the goals of reconciliation. But did you know that, to this day, only 13 of the 94 Calls to Action have been fulfilled and “t this rate, it will take 42 years, or until 2065, to complete all the Calls to Action,” according to a report from the Yellowhead Institute. Is reconciliation a buzzword? No, I know that we have more and more allies who are walking beside us, who want to hear our stories, who want to co-build with us, who want to do the right doing. There were apologies by the government and, in 2022, by Pope Francis. Indigenous rights are recognized in the Constitution, and in the act to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Universities are working towards cultural safety environments, and so on. Of course, it is not perfect, and we feel that it is not moving fast enough. But the fact is that reconciliation is easier to say than it is to do. Sometimes we feel that people are saying “reconciliation” to ease their conscience, but it feels mechanical. Despite this, more often than not, we feel the honesty and a willingness to do something to create a better, more inclusive world. Every day I am so inspired by younger generations and our young leaders of today and tomorrow who have shown exceptional promise on this front. Never before has a generation been so willing to learn, so willing to break with tradition in order to fix past wrongs. We have a lot to learn from them. Michèle Audette comes from the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam in Quebec and represents her province as a Senator with the Progressive Senate Group. Photograph courtesy of Sen. Michèle Audette Is reconciliation easy? Reconciliation is multidimensional; it is complex and difficult. We need to remind ourselves that more than 150 years of assimilationist policies and wrongdoing will not go away in a day. We need time and means to heal from the intergenerational traumas of the residential schooling system, of the ’60s Scoop, of the attempted cultural genocide, and you need time to adapt your ways of thinking and doing. But as long as we are moving forward—one step at a time—we, all together, can build a better, safer, more inclusive society, respectful of our diversity and our richness. We just need to continue putting in time and effort to educate, to raise awareness, and to truly commit to learning, to listening, to working towards reconciliation even when difficult. We will all be standing proud in the circle. Right now, we have a chance to further advance reconciliation and honour the truths survivors have gifted us by supporting Bill C-29, which calls for the establishment of a National Council for Reconciliation to answer the TRC’s Calls to Action 53 and 55. We don’t have the luxury to wait for the perfect bill, which is utopic anyway. I owe it to my mom, and we owe it to the survivors. How to embark on the journey towards reconciliation? On National Indigenous Peoples Day and all year round, visit Indigenous communities, participate in their pow wows, taste their food. We have so many good artists and authors: listen to our music, read our writers, read up on our history, and show your support on Sept. 30—the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation—to remember and honour the little ones who never came back home and our survivors and their families. Tshinashkumitinau! Thanks to all of you who are walking with us, and to those who will be joining us soon, I am reaching out to you. Michèle Audette comes from the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam in Quebec and represents her province as a Senator with the Progressive Senate Group. Since 2019, she has been assistant to the vice-rector of academic and student affairs, and senior adviser for reconciliation and Indigenous education at the Université Laval in Quebec. The Hill Times