Press Releases:

June 11, 2009

Appointment of Canadian TRC Commissioners

NEW YORK, June 11, 2009 -- Canada's appointment of three members of the Indian Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an important, necessary step toward restarting work to address historic injustices against Canada's aboriginal people, the International Center for Transitional Justice said today.

"Whatever the initial difficulties the commission faced, choosing truth over silence continues to be fundamentally correct," said Alex Boraine, acting president of ICTJ. "The voices of survivors still deserve recognition and justice."

The Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Minister announced the appointment of Justice Murray Sinclair, an aboriginal judge from Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench, as chairperson of the commission. He will be joined by Wilton Littlechild, the Alberta regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, and Marie Wilson, a former regional director of CBC North. They replace the commission's original three members, who resigned over procedural issues.

One year ago, on June 11, 2008, the government formally apologized for more than a century of abuse of Inuit, Métis and First Nations children. These children were forcibly taken from their families and placed in church- and state-run institutions that sought to change the children's cultural identity and inflicted brutal physical and psychological abuse on them. The government sought to use the Indian Residential School system to forcibly assimilate the country's indigenous population effacing their culture, languages and rights.

"Reconciliation is a long process, measurable only in historic time, not in the news cycle," said Eduardo Gonzalez, deputy director of ICTJ's Americas program. "The commission will need each day of its five-year mandate. We believe that properly begins with the appointment of these new commissioners."

The commission has the challenge of assessing the cultural and psychological damage inflicted on thousands of survivors, as well as educating the public about what happened and ways to advance toward reconciliation between Aboriginal nations and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

About ICTJ

The International Center for Transitional Justice assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved.

Contact

Eduardo Gonzalez
Deputy Director, ICTJ Americas Program
Tel: + 1 917 637 3812
Mob: + 1 347 244 0106
egonzalez@ictj.org