Truth and Reconciliation: One Year Later

June 6, 2016 | TPL Staff

R.C. Indian Residential School Study Time, Fort Resolution, N.W.T. This work is in the public domain.

It's been just over a year since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada held its closing ceremonies and released its summary report of the findings into the history and legacy of residential schools in Canada. This included 94 broad recommendations, or "calls to action" aimed at redressing the legacy of residential schools and facilitating the process of reconciliation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched in June 2008 as a result of the Residential Schools Settlement Agreement with the mandate to "inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential Schools."

More than 130 residential schools operated across Canada and the federal government has estimated at least 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit students attended them. The last school, located outside of Regina, closed in the mid-1990s. These schools were funded by the Canadian government and administered by Christian churches. The goal was to assimilate the indigenous population into the dominant Canadian culture and remove them from the influence of their families and culture.

Join us at the North York Central Library on Monday, June 6 to hear Joanna Birenbaum, a Toronto constitutional and human rights lawyer, discuss the legacy of Residential Schools for Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous people in Canada, with a focus on the steps taken toward reconciliation since June 2015. In particular, Joanna will describe the innovative National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its important role in the ongoing process of reconciliation.

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What: Truth and Reconciliation: One Year Later

When: Monday, Jun 06, 2016, 7 pm

Where: North York Central Library, in the Auditorium

For more information: Call the Society and Recreation Department at 416-395-5660

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If you would like to learn more about the history of residential schools in Canada, please take a look at the following books or visit one of Toronto Public Library's Native Peoples Collections located at North York Central Library, Spadina Road branch and Toronto Reference Library. These collections include books, CDs and DVDs, as well as language-learning kits, by and about the Native Peoples of North America with special emphasis on First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Canada.