Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

266 • Truth & Reconciliation Commissionabuse that they suffered in the schools was wrong and should never have happened,but they needed more.The children and grandchildren of Survivors needed to hear the truth aboutwhat happened to their parents and grandparents in the residential schools. At theCommission’s public events, many Survivors spoke in the presence of their childrenand grandchildren for the first time about the abuses they had suffered as children,and about the destructive ways of behaving they had learned at residential school.Many offered their own heartfelt apologies to their families for having been abusive,or unable to parent, or simply to say “I love you.”Apologies are important to victims of violence and abuse. Apologies have the potentialto restore human dignity and empower victims to decide whether they accept anapology or forgive a perpetrator. Where there has been no apology, or one that victimsbelieve tries to justify the behaviour of perpetrators and evade responsibility, reconciliationis difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. The official apologies from Canadaand the churches sent an important message to all Canadians that Aboriginal peopleshad suffered grievous harms at the hands of the state and church institutionsin the schools, and that, as the parties responsible for those harms, the state and thechurches accepted their measure of responsibility. The apologies were a necessaryfirst step in the process of reconciliation.The history and destructive legacy of residential schools is a sober reminder thattaking action does not necessarily lead to positive results. Attempts to assimilate FirstNations, Inuit, and Métis peoples into mainstream Canadian society were a dismalfailure. Despite the devastating impacts of colonization, Indigenous peoples havealways resisted (though in some places not always successfully) attacks on their cultures,languages, and ways of life.If Canadians are to keep the promise of the apologies made on their behalf—thepromise of “never again!”—then we must guard against simply replicating the assimilationpolicies of the past in new forms today. As trc Honorary Witness Wab Kinewsaid, “The truth about reconciliation is this: It is not a second chance at assimilation.It should not be a kinder, gentler evangelism, free from the horrors of the residentialschool era. Rather, true reconciliation is a second chance at building a mutuallyrespectful relationship.” 58The words of the apologies will ring hollow if Canada’s actions fail to produce thenecessary social, cultural, political, and economic change that benefits Aboriginalpeoples and all Canadians.A just reconciliation requires more than simply talking about the need to heal thedeep wounds of history. Words of apology alone are insufficient; concrete actions onboth symbolic and material fronts are required. Reparations for historical injusticesmust include not only apology, financial redress, legal reform, and policy change, butalso the rewriting of national history and public commemoration.