-   Commission activities
    -   Meeting from coast to coast
    -   Statement gathering
    -   The National Events
    -   Witnessing and expressions of reconciliation
    -   Education and outreach
    -   Commemoration and community events funding
    -   Interim report
    -   National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
    -   Endnotes

Commission activities

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was established in 2008 under
the terms of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. The Commission
was mandated to

-   reveal to Canadians the complex truth about the history and the ongoing
    legacy of the church-run residential schools, in a manner that fully
    documents the individual and collective harms perpetrated against Aboriginal
    peoples, and honours the resilience and courage of former students, their
    families, and communities; and
-   guide and inspire a process of truth and healing, leading toward
    reconciliation within Aboriginal families, and between Aboriginal peoples
    and non-Aboriginal communities, churches, governments, and Canadians
    generally. The process was to work to renew relationships on a basis of
    inclusion, mutual understanding, and respect.

More specifically, the Commission was required to hold seven National Events; to
gather documents and statements about residential schools and their legacy; to
fund truth and reconciliation events at the community level; to recommend
commemoration initiatives to the federal government for funding; to set up a
research centre that will permanently house the Commission’s records and
documents, which the parties were obligated to provide to the Commission,
thereby establishing a living legacy of the Commission’s work; and to issue a
report with recommendations.

Three Commissioners were appointed in 2008: the Honourable Justice Harry Laforme
as Chair, and Jane Brewin-Morley and Claudette Dumont-Smith. They resigned
shortly after being appointed and new Commissioners were appointed. The current
Commissioners, the Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair as Chair, and Chief Wilton
Littlechild and Dr. Marie Wilson, were appointed to replace them in 2009 by the
parties to the Settlement Agreement.

An Indian Residential School Survivor Committee (IRSSC) provided advice and
support to the Commission. Its members included John Banksland, Inuvialuit from
the Northwest Territories; John Morriseau, Métis from Grand Rapids, Manitoba;
Eugene Arcand, Cree from Muskeg Lake First Nation, Saskatchewan; Madeleine
Basile, a member of the Atikamekw Nation from Wemotaci, Québec; Lottie May
Johnson, Mi’kmaq from Eskasoni, Nova Scotia; Rebekah Uqi Williams, Inuk from
Nunavut; Doris Young, Cree from The Pas, Manitoba; Barney Williams
Jr. (Taa-eee-sim-chilth), Nuu-chahnulth from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations on
Meares Island, British Columbia; Gordon Williams, from the Peguis First Nation
in Manitoba, now residing in Ontario; and Kukdookaa Terri Brown, from the
Tahltan Nation in British Columbia. Raymond Arcand, a former chief of the
Alexander First Nation near Edmonton, Alberta, served on the Survivors Committee
until his death in November 2009.

[]

The Indian Residential School Survivor Committee. Left to right, starting in the
back: John Morrisseau, Terri Brown, Eugene Arcand, Doris Young, Lottie May
Johnson, John Banksland. Seated: Rebekah Uqi Williams, Barney Williams, Gordon
Williams, Commissioner Chief Wilton Littlechild, Madeleine Basile.

The Commission received continuing support throughout its mandate from the
parties to the Settlement Agreement. Regular All Parties Meetings were held to
discuss opportunities and challenges that arose in fulfilling the Commission’s
goals. The Commission worked with the parties to address topics such as document
collection, communications, public education, and Survivor travel support for
completion of the Commission’s work. Representatives of the parties also took
part in working groups at the national and local levels to support the
Commission in planning and implementing its National and Regional Events.

The Commission established its head office in Winnipeg, Manitoba, retained a
small Ottawa office, and opened satellite offices in Vancouver, British
Columbia; Hobbema, Alberta; and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

In recognition of the unique cultures of the Inuit, and of their experiences and
the impacts of residential schools on them, the Commission also established an
Inuit Sub-Commission. Seven regional liaison officers were hired with advice
from the IRSSC and were assigned responsibility to work in the following
regions: Québec and Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta,
British Columbia, and Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

Meeting from coast to coast

During the six years of its operation, the Commission held events in all parts
of the country. The largest and most visible of these were the National Events
held in Winnipeg, Inuvik, Halifax, Saskatoon, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton
between June 2010 and March 2014. The Commission estimates there were as many as
155,000 visits to the seven National Events; over 9,000 residential school
Survivors registered to attend them (while many others attended but did not
register).[1] To augment its statement-gathering activities and to help build
public interest and participation in its National Events, the TRC organized
Regional Events in Victoria and Whitehorse. It also held 238 days of local
hearings in seventy-seven communities across the country. The Commission also
sponsored “town halls” on reconciliation at its Victoria Regional Event in April
2012 and at subsequent National Events as a means to draw a greater number of
visitors into conversation with the TRC about healing and reconciliation.
Members of the general public were invited to come forward at the town halls to
share information about what they are already doing to support reconciliation
and to describe their ideas about what more needs to be done.

Statement gathering

Until the Commission was established, the voices of those who were most directly
affected by the residential school experience, particularly the former students,
had largely been missing from the historical record. The Commission made a
commitment to offer everyone involved with the residential school system the
opportunity to speak about their experience. The Commission received over 6,750
statements from Survivors of residential schools, members of their families, and
other individuals who wished to share their knowledge of the residential school
system and its legacy.

[]

The Kuujjuaq community hearing, Nunavik, March 2011. Photo credit: Piita Irniq.

Statements were gathered at public Sharing Panels and Sharing Circles at
National, Regional, and Community Events and at Commission hearings. They were
also collected through private conversations with statement gatherers. The
Commission also gathered statements in correctional institutions in Kenora,
Ontario, and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, recognizing the high rates of
incarceration of Aboriginal peoples and how the experience of residential
schools has contributed to the kinds of personal struggles that may lead to
incarceration. Health-support workers, cultural support workers, and/or
professional therapists were present everywhere the Commission gathered
statements to provide support and counselling as needed.

In an effort to understand all aspects of the residential school experience, the
Commission also made a concerted effort to gather statements from former staff
of residential schools. With the assistance of the church parties to the
Settlement Agreement, the Commission conducted ninety-six separate interviews
with former staff and the children of former staff. In addition, the Commission
received statements from former staff and their family members at its National
and Regional Events and Community Hearings. The statements gathered will form
part of a permanent collection of documents relating to residential schools.

Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the federal government and the
churches were obliged to turn over relevant documents in their possession to the
Commission. The Commission has had to overcome some significant challenges to
completing this task, and has had to seek court direction to resolve disputes
with the parties about the handing over of documents. Once the Commission’s
document-collection processes began, it became increasingly apparent that Canada
would not produce numerous documents that appeared to be relevant to the
Commission’s work.[2]

First, the federal government declined to produce all relevant documents held in
its national archives, Library and Archives Canada. Library and Archives Canada
took a position that it was not required to organize and produce to the
Commission up to five million documents in its possession that were directly
relevant to residential schools. Library and Archives Canada maintained that the
Settlement Agreement required it to provide the Commission only with access to
its archives. A lengthy process, which included the filing of written arguments,
affidavit evidence, and court-ordered mediation between Canada and the
Commission, culminated in a hearing before the Honourable Justice Stephen Goudge
of the Ontario Court of Appeal (sitting as an Ontario Superior Court Justice) on
December 20 and 21, 2012. By judgment dated January 30, 2013, Justice Goudge
ruled in favour of the Commission’s position, that the terms of the Settlement
Agreement provided that all relevant documents held by the Government of Canada,
wherever they may be held, must be produced to the Commission.[3] Following the
ruling, the Government of Canada began producing documents from Library and
Archives Canada to the Commission.

Less than a year later, the Commission once again was required to go to court
for judicial guidance respecting Canada’s document-production obligations. At
issue were records in the possession of the Government of Canada from the
investigation of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) into abuse at the Fort
Albany, Ontario, residential school in Ontario (also known as the St. Anne’s
school). The Commission had attempted to obtain the OPP documents from both the
OPP and the federal government. Although the OPP did not respond to the
Commission’s overtures, it later took the position that it required judicial
authorization to produce the records to the Commission, but it did not oppose
disclosure. The Government of Canada, however, opposed production of the
documents to both the Commission and to the lawyers for residential school
Survivors. The government took the position that it was barred from producing
the documents because they obtained the documents from the OPP subject to an
undertaking that it would not, in turn, disclose the documents to any third
party.[4] The Government of Canada further argued that it was not obliged to
seek documents from third parties for disclosure to the Commission and that any
disclosure to the Commission of the St. Anne’s records would amount to burdening
the Government of Canada with this obligation.[5]

On October 18, 2013, the Commission filed a Request for Directions as to whether
the Government of Canada was obliged to disclose the records of the OPP
investigation of St. Anne’s. After argument before the Honourable Justice Paul
Perell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on December 17 and 18, 2013, the
court ordered Canada to produce its documents to the Commission.[6] Recognizing
that Canada had only a subset of the OPP investigation documents, the court went
one step further and ordered that the OPP produce all the investigation records
in its possession to the Commission.[7]

Less than a year after Justice Perell rendered his decision in the St. Anne’s
case, the Commission was faced with yet another document-collection issue that
called for court guidance. The documents at issue were records from the
Independent Assessment Process (IAP). The IAP is one of the components of the
Settlement Agreement. The IAP is an adjudicative process for financial
compensation to residential school Survivors who suffered serious abuse at
residential schools. Consequently, the body that administers the IAP process,
the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat (IRSAS), is in
possession of a wealth of documents relevant to the legacy of Indian residential
schools.

The Residential Schools Settlement Agreement provides that Survivors who go
through the IAP can give their consent to have their statements and testimony
archived with the archive created by the National Centre for Truth and
Reconciliation for future research. The intention was apparently to eliminate
the need for a Survivor to have to testify before an IAP adjudicator, and then
have to repeat the same story to the TRC. From mid-2010 to early 2012, the
Commission engaged in negotiations with IRSAS to archive and preserve those
documents. The parties’ discussions focused on the development of a consent form
for IAP claimants to sign during the IAP process. The consent form would explain
to IAP Survivors how their information would be shared with the Commission and
it would allow them to provide written consent to the sharing of their stories.
The Commission had discovered that the IAP staff and adjudicators had repeatedly
failed to inform Survivors of their right to have their statements delivered to
the TRC’s archive, and, instead, had required an undertaking of strict
confidentiality of all parties to the IAP hearings, including the Survivors
themselves. In June 2014, the chief adjudicator of IAP publicly announced that
he supported the immediate destruction of all documents related to the
adjudication of claims by residential school Survivors.

The Commission emphasized that the requirement of strict confidentiality imposed
by IRSAS was incompatible with the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
Furthermore, the Commission stated that the destruction of some IAP documents
would constitute a major loss for future generations of Canadians. The
Commission and IRSAS were unable to come to an agreement as to the mechanisms
for allowing the Commission to access the documents, and the matter was brought
before Justice Perell for direction.

In the hearing held from July 14 to 16, 2014, the Commission advanced the
position that a notice program should be ordered by the court, which would allow
IAP claimants to be notified that they may share their IAP testimony with the
Commission should they so desire. The Commission narrowed the categories of
documents it sought to preserve in recognition of the legitimate privacy
interests of IAP Survivors. The Commission argued that it sought only to archive
the IAP applications, transcripts, and audio recordings from IAP hearings and
IAP adjudicator decisions.

On August 6, 2014, Justice Perell delivered reasons in which he held that the
IAP documents would be subject to a fifteen-year retention period, during which
a notice program to Survivors would be administered by the Commission or the
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.[8] The precise parameters of the
notice program would be decided by the court in a subsequent hearing.
Importantly, Justice Perell ruled that every copy of the IAP documents, no
matter who possesses them, must be destroyed after the conclusion of the
retention period if the IAP claimants do not consent to having the documents
archived.

Justice Perell also directed that the Commission commence a further Request for
Direction and return to court for a determination of the issue of the parameters
of a notice program to inform Survivors about their option to archive their IAP
applications, the transcripts and audio recordings of their hearings, and the
decisions with the Commission. The Commission (along with the National Centre
for Truth and Reconciliation) has been entrusted to commence further proceedings
to determine how to engage claimants in the exercise of ensuring informed
consent on the issue of the fate of their records.

Justice Perell’s ruling is the subject of appeal.[9] The Commission feels
strongly that any steps taken to ensure that the informed consent of Survivors
is obtained must be robust, culturally appropriate, and sensitive to the
challenges of contacting Survivors, some of whom cannot read, have problems
speaking English or French, and reside in remote locations. The Commission
believes that it is not enough that a notice simply be mailed to the last known
address of Survivors. A multi-faceted and personal approach that actively
engages Survivors is required.

The Commission strongly believes that Survivors’ stories must be preserved. The
loss of these documents would be a blow to Canada’s national memory of a
significant historic injustice, could contribute to the possibility that future
generations would never know of the abuses in residential schools, and could
contribute to the argument of those who would assert that this never happened.
The Commission intends to vigorously advance a position to prevent the
destruction of the IAP documents without the informed consent of individual
Survivors.

[]

Concert showcasing local Aboriginal talent, Atlantic National Event, Halifax,
2011.

The National Events

The four-day National Events served as important milestones over the course of
the Commission’s six-year mandate. As well as offering a forum for Survivors and
their families, the National Events raised public awareness of the history and
legacy of residential schools. They also built momentum for the collective
journey towards national healing and reconciliation—a journey that will need to
continue well beyond the Commission’s closing ceremony.

Traditional knowledge and practice guided much of the Commission’s work. The
Seven Sacred Teachings of the Anishinaabe—Respect, Courage, Love, Truth,
Humility, Honesty, and Wisdom—served as the themes for the seven National
Events, and ceremony and traditional observance played an important part in the
National Events. Sacred fires were lit at the beginning of each National Event
and every day’s proceedings began with ceremony. As much as possible, the
observances followed the cultural protocols, customs, and traditions of the
Aboriginal peoples in whose territories the Commission was a guest. Similar
ceremonies were held at Regional and Community Events.

Education was a key part of the Commission’s mandate. Although students were
involved in all the National Events, beginning at the third National Event in
Halifax, and at all subsequent National Events, local schools were invited to
send students to take part in a day of learning. These Education Days were also
part of Regional Events on Vancouver Island and in Yukon, and a stand-alone
event was organized in Toronto for students from the surrounding area. In all,
more than 15,000 students participated by attending presentations and cultural
performances, observing and taking part in panel discussions and workshops, and
visiting displays in the Learning Places.

[] Her Excellency, the Honorable Michaëlle Jean at the Winnipeg National Event,
June 2010.

The Commission organized activities to help teachers prepare their students for
the National Event Education Days and consider follow-up activities in the
classroom. In addition, the Commission worked with universities, educators, and
Traditional Knowledge Keepers to hold academic conferences and panel discussions
at its National Events on a number of topics related to the legacy of
colonialism and residential schools, and on healing and reconciliation. Cultural
performances were also key elements of each National Event. Through concerts and
talent shows, thousands of people experienced some of the richness of Aboriginal
culture, language, and artistic expression—cultural forms that residential
schools sought to destroy.

The Commission was able to share its work with Canadians everywhere, and with a
worldwide audience, through live streaming of the National Events on the
internet and additional postings on the Commission’s website and social-media
platforms. There were over 93,350 views of its webcast during the National
Events from at least sixty-two different countries.

Witnessing and expressions of reconciliation

One of the goals of the Commission’s public outreach activities was to encourage
Canadians from all backgrounds to learn more about the legacy of residential
schools and take part in the work of reconciliation by witnessing Commission
events.

Inviting respected guests to represent all witnesses at an event or the conduct
of business gives the event import and legitimacy and is in keeping with the
traditions of many Aboriginal cultures. To this end, the Commission appointed
Honorary Witnesses to be present at its major events. Her Excellency, the Right
Honourable Michaëlle Jean, who served as governor general of Canada at the start
of the Commission’s mandate, agreed to be the Commission’s first Honorary
Witness. She began her role as a witness by hosting a special event called
Witnessing the Future at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on October 15, 2009. In the
following years, the current governor general of Canada, His Excellency the
Right Honourable David Johnston; two former prime ministers, the Right
Honourable Joe Clark and the Right Honourable Paul Martin; two former national
Aboriginal leaders, Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations and
former Ambassador Mary Simon, Past President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; and a
host of other distinguished individuals have all agreed to serve as Honorary
Witnesses.

The Commission also invited Canadians to make expressions of reconciliation at
its National and Regional Events. The Commission received more than 180
expressions from individuals, organizations, and the parties to the Settlement
Agreement who wished to publicly state their commitment to the journey of
healing and reconciliation and speak to the ways in which they are contributing
to that journey. Documents and items related to each expression of
reconciliation were placed in ceremony in the beautiful Bentwood Box created by
Coast Salish carver Luke Marston. The box will become part of the permanent
legacy of the TRC housed in the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Education and outreach

The Commission worked throughout its mandate to educate the public about the
legacy of residential schools and to invite and encourage public participation
in its events and activities. The Commission took part in nearly 900 separate
events. These included a number of special events that the TRC organized with
various partners to engage with Survivors’ organizations and other Aboriginal
groups, youth, women, faith communities, the philanthropic community, and new
Canadians. The Commission also accepted invitations to share information about
its work internationally through the United Nations, the International Centre
for Transitional Justice, and a number of university law faculties.[10]

In the final year of its mandate, the Commission organized two events to gather
additional information for its report. It held a Traditional Knowledge Keepers
Forum to learn how traditional Aboriginal knowledge can contribute to
reconciliation. It also organized, with the support of Égale Canada Human Rights
Trust, a forum with members of the Two Spirit community to discuss the impacts
of residential schools and what needs to be done to support reconciliation and
healing in that community.

Commemoration and community events funding

The Settlement Agreement allocated $20 million for commemoration initiatives.
These were defined as initiatives that would honour, educate, remember,
memorialize, and pay tribute to former residential school students, their
families, and their communities. The Commission issued two separate calls for
commemoration project proposals. The maximum funding award for a project
advanced by a single group was $50,000. Up to ten communities could collaborate
on a submission for a maximum contribution of $500,000, and a commemoration
project of national scope was eligible for a contribution of up to $2 million.
The Commission recommended 152 projects to the federal Department of Aboriginal
Affairs and Northern Development for funding, and 143 projects were
approved.[11]

It is important to note that the Commission’s work inspired others to undertake
commemorative projects using their own resources. One example is the Government
of Canada’s decision to memorialize the legacy of Indian residential schools
through the permanent installation of a stained-glass window in the Centre Block
of Parliament Hill. The design selected for the window was created by Aboriginal
artist Christi Belcourt and is entitled Giniigaaniimenaaning or Looking Ahead.

The Commission issued a separate call for proposals for community events and
allocated funding to approved projects up to a maximum of $15,000 per event. The
TRC supported seventy-five community events, which were designed to promote
healing and reconciliation by developing collective community narratives about
the impact of the residential school system on former students, families, and
communities.

Interim report

In February 2012, as part of its mandate, the Commission issued an Interim
Report with findings and recommendations, along with a short history of
residential schools, entitled They Came for the Children. Because
recommendations in the Interim Report dealt with gaps in school curricula, the
Commission made it a priority to meet with provincial and territorial education
ministers to advocate for the development of curriculum on the legacy of
residential schools and the mandatory adoption of that curriculum in all
jurisdictions.

[]

Tens of thousands participate in the Walk for Reconciliation through downtown
Vancouver, September 2013.

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

The Commission was mandated to create a national research centre, which would
hold all the material created and received as part of its work. The centre is
intended to be accessible to Survivors, their families, and communities, as well
as to the general public. The Commission held a forum in March 2011 to consult
with national and international experts on establishing such a centre. This
informed the Commission’s subsequent call for proposals to house the centre.

The Commission reviewed a number of proposals for housing the research centre
and, in June 2013, announced that the University of Manitoba had been selected
to become the permanent host of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
(NCTR). The NCTR is governed by a Trust Deed and Administrative Agreement signed
by the Commission and the university. A Governing Circle and Survivors Circle
play important roles in ensuring the promises undertaken to Survivors are
honoured.

The NCTR also works in direct partnership with a growing number of universities,
colleges, and other organizations across the country, including: the University
of British Columbia, the University of Winnipeg, l’Université de St. Boniface,
Carleton University, the University of Regina, Lakehead University, University
College of the North, Algoma University, Red River College, the Archives of
Manitoba, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the National Association of
Friendship Centres, the Legacy of Hope Foundation, and le Centre du patrimoine.
The goal is to create the broadest possible network from coast to coast to
coast.

Officially opening in the summer of 2015, the NCTR will be the permanent home
for all statements, documents, and other materials gathered by the Commission.
In future, it will house other Indigenous collections. The NCTR will encourage
and engage in respectful dialogue on many issues that hinder or foster
reconciliation. It will ensure that:

-   Survivors and their families have access to their own history;
-   educators can share the residential school history with new generations of
    students;
-   researchers can delve more deeply into the residential school experience and
    legacy;
-   the public can access historical records and other materials to help foster
    reconciliation and healing; and
-   the history and legacy of the residential school system are never forgotten.

The search to understand the truth about Indian residential schools has taken
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to all parts of Canada. The Commission
has listened to thousands of Survivors give their accounts of the residential
school experience and how that experience has shaped their lives. The Commission
has explored what the legacy of the residential school system has meant to
Aboriginal people in particular and to Canada as a whole. This journey led the
Commission to chart some of the pathways described in this report that may lead
eventually to reconciliation within this country.

Endnotes

[1] In this context, the Commission defines a “visit” as one person attending
one day of one National Event. The Commission made daily attendance estimates of
its National Events but did not attempt to track those individuals who attended
more than one day of any single National Event.

[2] Schedule N to the Settlement Agreement provides at section 1(e) that one of
the goals of the Commission is to “identify sources and create as complete an
historical record as possible of the IRS system and legacy.” In addition,
section 11 of Schedule N provides that “Canada and the churches will provide all
relevant documents in their possession or control to and for the use of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission” and that Canada and the churches are
required to “compile all relevant documents in an organized manner for review by
the Commission and to provide access to their archives for the Commission to
carry out its mandate.”

[3] Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 ONSC 684 at para 69.

[4] Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 ONSC 283 (CanLII) at paras.
24–25.

[5] Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 ONSC 283 (CanLII) at paras.
24–25.

[6] Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 ONSC 283 (CanLII) at para 191.

[7] Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 ONSC 283 (CanLII) at para 192.

[8] Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 ONSC 4585 (CanLII) at para 19.

[9] The Catholic entities filed main appeals and the Commission and the National
Centre filed cross appeals. Based on preliminary documents filed by the Catholic
entities, it appears that they intend to argue that no notice period should be
ordered and that the IAP documents cannot be archived without the consent of
alleged perpetrators and other persons of interest. The Commission intends to
appear before the Court of Appeal of Ontario to argue that the IAP documents
cannot be destroyed without consulting IAP claimants.

[10] The Commission’s engagement with the United Nations included participation
at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Panel on Indigenous
Issues, an Expert Seminar on Truth Commissions and Access to Justice, and a
Human Rights Council Special Panel on Education and Teaching History.

[11] A complete list of projects funded is available on the website of
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada at
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100015635/1100100015636.