Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

The challenge of reconciliation • 331very bad about their role in it, but they chose to stay in the system because itwas still better than nothing, it was still better than abandoning the system, andabandoning the students that were in it. 198At the Atlantic National Event, Mark DeWolf spoke to us about his father, theReverend James Edward DeWolf, who was the principal at two residential schools: St.Paul’s in Alberta and La Tuque in Québec. He said,I’m quite hesitant to speak here this morning ... I’m not here to defend my fatherso much, as to speak part of the truth about the kind of person my father was. Ithink he was an exemplary principal of an Indian residential school.... Part of thestory will be about what I saw around me, what my parents tried to do, howevereffective that was, however well-intentioned that was, however beneficial or notbeneficial it was, you will at least when you leave here today, have a bit more ofthe story and you may judge for yourselves. I hope you will judge with kindness,understanding, and generosity of spirit....[My father] did so many things, coached the teams, blew the whistle or shot offthe starting pistol at the sports days. Twelve o’clock at midnight, on the coldestof winter days, he would be out on the rink that he had constructed behind theschool, flooding it so that the children could skate. He devoted his life to theservice of his church, his God, and those that he thought had been marginalized,oppressed.... It is a terrible shame there were not more like him. When weleave today, though, let’s remember that when you have a system like theresidential school, there are the individuals within the system, some of whomare good, decent, loving, caring people, and some of whom are blind, intolerant,predatory.… My father worked within the system trying to make it a better one. 199TRC Honorary WitnessesThe mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission describes “reconciliation”as an ongoing individual and collective process involving all the people ofCanada. To help ensure that reconciliation will indeed be ongoing, even after thetrc’s own official work is done, the Commissioners decided early on a public educationand advocacy strategy to engage high-profile supporters, each willing to fosterthe continuing work of public education and dialogue. We called upon more than seventyof them across the country and internationally, and inducted them as HonoraryWitnesses in a public ceremony at each of the National Events. Together, they representaccomplished and influential leaders from all walks of life, now serving as ambassadorsin educating the broader public about why reconciliation is necessary. Most ofthem, including some who had worked with Aboriginal people in the past, franklyadmitted to their own prior gaps in knowledge and understanding of the residential