Features

September 29, 2008

Truth and justice for Canada's Aboriginal peoples

The following remarks are adapted from the Sep. 26 keynote speech by Eduardo Gonzalez, deputy director of ICTJ's Americas Program, at the University of Montreal forum "Breaking the Silence," a joint project of the university's Center for Ethical Research, the Center on Values and Ethics at Carleton University and the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Canada has formally recognized that Aboriginal peoples suffered grave abuses in the Indian Residential Schools (IRS) system, and that the system itself was the product of an unacceptable belief in cultural superiority.

However, this recognition-made in the IRS Settlement agreement and government Apology-was made without clear acknowledgment of the criminal nature of those acts. The abuses against Aboriginal communities and individual children are likely to remain unaddressed until the vast majority of Canadians have an opportunity to hear about them in a credible, exhaustive investigation. Without an opportunity for the victims to speak directly to the country and weave their narratives, the abuses will continue to be seen as probable exaggerations. The role of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be to remove not only the veil of silence, but also the veil of euphemism.

While the focus of the current process is the legacy of the residential schools, a true commitment to reconciliation must go beyond this. As the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples recognized 12 years ago, the victimization of children and families in residential schools was only part of a wider set of policies seeking to remove Aboriginal peoples from their homelands, suppress their nations and governments, undermine their culture and identity. In this respect, the truth commission will have a powerful guide in Supreme Court jurisprudence, which has said that reconciliation is directly related to the affirmation and recognition of Aboriginal rights.

While the Canadian TRC marks an important step in many respects, it will-as every truth commission before it-gather its strength and legitimacy from victims. The mandate of the commission in an ethical sense goes well beyond the settlement agreement. It is a mandate from those who are no longer here, those who were forgotten. Constant and systematic consultation with survivors and their families, with First Nations, Inuit and Métis, will be fundamental. Establishing opportunities for victims to tell their truth without burdensome or inappropriate parameters will make the commission a reliable partner for them.

Finally, the commission should be seen as an educational opportunity for all Canadians. Through creative use of volunteerism and communication techniques, the Commission can reach out to youth throughout the country, and mobilize resources and initiatives from and to aboriginal communities. At the end of the TRC process, the commission should envision a country where very few will be able to say they don't know what happened, and very few will be able to deny the truth.