Truth, Reconciliation and Solidarity

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report was six years in the making. Over 6,750 residential school survivors shared their experiences in both public and private settings in 300 communities, and it is thanks to the bravery of these survivors that the Commission was able to prepare a report that is both jarring in its depictions of what happened to First Nations children and their families, and action-oriented in its recommendations.
The cultural genocide carried out through residential schools took several forms. While the forced removal of children from their families, culture and communities was traumatic enough, further mistreatment took place as children were not allowed to speak their own languages or wear their traditional clothes or hair lengths—the idea being to “kill the Indian in the child.” Tragically, many children were further physically and/or sexually abused and, in estimates running from 3,500 to 7,500, some children died while at these schools.
While the Liberals and NDP said they accept the TRC report’s recommendations, the Tories have been predictably hostile. For instance, Harper has said he will not implement the recommendation regarding signing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, because it would inhibit the legislative freedom of the Canadian state in his view.
What are the recommendations of the TRC report, and how do socialists think we can best push for them to be implemented by government? How can settlers build solidarity with indigenous struggles here in BC? Join us for a discussion of these important questions.