Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
I have had the immense pleasure of working on this blog with 4 other amazingly talented and caring people who I am sure will go on to do great things and they have made this a memorable experience premised on support and understanding. Delving into the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Calls to Actions each week has been a journey resulting in very polarizing emotions for me as a First Nations Nehiyaw Iskwew (Cree woman). Our group was not afraid to tackle the hard topics and questions and I am very proud of what we have accomplished. Our efforts have brought awareness and been an advocate for the implementation of the TRC Calls to Action.
The issues have hit close to home for me especially because of my lived experience and the frustrations with the lack of action on so many of the Calls have been hard to reconcile with. Week after week, day after day there was one disappointment after another but yet when there was movement on a Call it was a thing to be celebrated and we did. So, while I am very grateful for this experience to learn and write on the TRC -- 5 years later. I find myself angry and sad and even more determined to be a part of the voices that demand change. To date, only 9 of the 94 Calls to Action have been completed. Nine. After 5 years with incremental movements on the others and none on way to many.
The TRC’s goal was to redress the intergenerational legacy and the ongoing impact of residential schools on survivors and their families. I wish we could have seen a better outcome by now but my hope in this is not lost. One of the routes to Reconciliation will be through education and we must all do our part when called upon, this blog, this year and this topic has been a unique chance as a law student to do that. For that I am grateful. Canada and its provinces have an urgent duty to the education and implementation of the TRC and it is failing. Alberta’s current government is a prime example of its failure to adequately do so with its new “draft curriculum”, which some argue perpetuates rather than addressing systemic racism, I would agree.
Thank you for being a part of this journey, and I truly hope you join ReconciliAction next year!
Sincerely,
Anita
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