Not over it
The process of truth and reconciliation is gathering momentum in Canada, as indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, governments, and organisations come to terms with their shared colonial history and legacy.
Jessica Vandenberghe, Industrial Chair in Indigenous Engineering, University of Alberta; co-host, Unsettled: Journeys in Truth and Conciliation
jessica.vandenberghe.canada@gmail.com
George Lee, Co-host and Producer, Unsettled: Journeys in Truth and Conciliation
unsettledjourneys@gmail.com
Often grudgingly, Canada is accepting the truth of its founding fathers’ actions and the impact of colonialism. This process of soul-searching, debating, consulting, listening, healing, apologising, settling land claims, and making financial and other amends – painfully slow as it may be – is a defining characteristic of the early 21st century in our country.
Truth and reconciliation, as the process is called, is critical and inevitable. It requires the support, influence, and cooperation of professional services marketed and performed within our borders. A moral and practical imperative exists for businesses and other employers to educate themselves on indigenous issues, and to act in ways that go beyond posting platitudes and ticking equity, diversity, and inclusion boxes.
In the words of an indigenous elder quoted in our podcast, Truth and reconciliation is part of a “wicked problem.” This wicked problem belongs to the country, its people, the organizations doing business here, and, when you dig into it, the entire world.
It can also be viewed as a series of interwoven, self-perpetuating problems. Indigenous peoples are underrepresented in professions, trades, and the sciences. Most of their communities are inadequately served by infrastructure, governments, and business. High unemployment and other socio-economic problems persist at a disproportionate level for indigenous people, no matter where in Canada they live.
Our podcast, called Unsettled: Journeys in Truth and Conciliation, contends that treaties and other agreements with indigenous peoples have been dishonoured for centuries. There’s nothing to return to or reconcile, so we use “conciliation” instead of “reconciliation” in our name.
Word choices aside, one of our backdrops is Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which wrapped up in 2015 with 94 Calls to Action attached to a six-volume report. The TRC heard from more than 6,500 witnesses, and it hosted seven national events to engage and educate the Canadian public about the tragic history and legacy of the country’s residential school system.
Residential schools were an inhumane and deadly pillar of forced assimilation and cultural genocide – part of a failed attempt to “kill the Indian in the child,” as it was sometimes referred to. Children were removed from their homes, cut off from their families, and often taken thousands of miles away. They were forced to attend schools run by churches and funded and condoned by the government. Many were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused – and thousands died.
About 150,000 indigenous children attended residential schools. Records are incomplete, but estimates of deaths from abuse, neglect, disease, malnutrition, and other causes range from several thousand to more than 30,000. Teachers, leadership, and other staff mistreated children by aggressively disconnecting them from their languages, homes, religions, and cultures. Often, children were used for medical and malnutrition testing, and purposely mistreated to stunt brain growth.
The issues facing indigenous communities and individuals do not exist in isolation. The TRC and others have thoroughly documented and studied the intergenerational ripple effects that came out of the Indian Act, such as day schools, Indian hospitals, and the Sixties Scoop (the removal of indigenous children from their birth families for fostering and adoption by non-indigenous families).
“Our desire is Canada, its citizens, and peoples find meaningful solutions to our shared ‘wicked problem’. Our podcast guests with indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds to discuss their truth and reconciliation journeys, struggles, frustrations, successes, hopes, and dreams in a supportive environment.”
Despite residential schools and other pro-assimilation policies, many of which remain in effect, indigenous peoples and their communities are enduring and resilient within the cultural and ethnic fabric of Canada. Comprising the largest subset of the indigenous population are members of First Nations. These nations are not a monolith. At least 50 distinct languages and national cultures exist in more than 630 communities on First Nations lands.
About 1.8 million people in our country – five per cent of the population – are indigenous. Between 2016 and 2021, the indigenous population grew by 9.4 per cent, compared with 5.3 per cent for the non-Indigenous population.
Within this climate we created our podcast. We are not the only people talking about indigenous issues, of course, and the personal, professional, and organisational journeys that Truth and Reconciliation compels us to take.
What makes our podcast unique is our differing ancestries: one of us is indigenous, the other is non-indigenous. This is by design. We created our podcast as a symbol and an example of indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians working and growing together.
Our desire is Canada, its citizens, and peoples find meaningful solutions to our shared ‘wicked problem’. Our podcast guests with indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds to discuss their truth and reconciliation journeys, struggles, frustrations, successes, hopes, and dreams in a supportive environment.
Overall, there’s a positive vibe to the podcast. Sure, there are tears and painful stories. But we laugh, too, and imagination, creativity, and reasons to be optimistic are in large supply.
We are part of the dialogue. If you’re doing business in Canada, you should be, too.
Regardless of what kind of professional service you offer, your CSR program in Canada should include truth and reconciliation. The courts here and many of our laws recognize the rights of indigenous peoples, including their rights to hunt and fish in their traditional territories. Because of this, cursory or inauthentic consultation processes fail to win regulatory approval.
Also, research reveals that Canadians want to know more about indigenous issues. In June 2016, the final report of Canadian Public Opinion on Aboriginal Peoples found that 79 per cent of non-indigenous Canadians are personally interested in learning more about indigenous cultures. As well, there’s a “widespread belief [of the general, non-indigenous public] in the importance of moving forward to find meaningful solutions.”
Based on telephone interviews with 2,001 Canadians identifying as non-indigenous, the Environics Institute survey also found that 61 per cent of respondents had not seen their impression of indigenous peoples change over recent years. Yet more than a quarter said their impression had become more positive.
In 2017, the not-for-profit Reconciliation Canada surveyed indigenous and non-indigenous individuals across the country. Here’s a key finding of the survey of more than 500 indigenous and 1,500 non-indigenous respondents:
“There is general agreement among both populations that the current relationship between indigenous peoples and non-indigenous Canadians is much more negative than positive. What underlies this belief are shared perceptions of discrimination and racism, negative stereotypes, social and economic disparities, an absence of dialogue, and a mutual sense of mistrust. Both populations also further agree on the need for reconciliation between them, although indigenous Peoples feel stronger about this (62% say there is a great need, compared with 46% of other Canadians).”
Many of the 94 Calls to Action of the TRC are tied to business, among them a call to teach all Canadians the reality of indigenous peoples' treatment, and a call to create educational and economic opportunities for indigenous Canadians so they can fully participate in society. One Call to Action is aimed directly at business and speaks to a worldwide movement, led by the United Nations:
“92. We call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.”
None of this sounds easy or straightforward, and it isn’t. There is no simple, one-size-fits-all approach to solving our wicked problem, which is where our podcast comes in. We strive to provide raw material to help you build your program of truth and reconciliation. Think of us, like we do, as a professional development resource to share with staff and leadership. The rest is up to you.
Check out our podcast through our hosting site or send us an email for further information.