Canadians are gathering for ceremonies and reflecting on the tragic legacy of residential schools — and honouring the children who never came home — as the country marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This year also marks 10 years since the final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was released.
The commission, which conducted an exhaustive, years-long study of residential schools, has documented just how destructive residential schools were with widespread abuse and neglect — and as many as 6,000 deaths, most from malnutrition or disease.
The schools, which were designed to assimilate Indigenous children into the dominant Euro-Canadian culture, caused untold intergenerational trauma and harm, the TRC found.
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CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault will host special coverage of the events live from Ottawa beginning at 2 p.m. ET. The special will be aired on CBC News Network and streaming on CBC Gem, CBC.ca, the CBC News app and CBC News streaming channels.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Mark Carney said “reconciliation is a generational task, lived and practised every day.”
“As a government and as a people, we match remembrance with responsibility,” Carney said in his statement.
Of the 94 calls to action put forward by the TRC, just over a dozen have been completed.
WATCH | Where’s Canada at with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action?:
CBC chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault asks Toronto Metropolitan University professor Eva Jewell to help explain why several Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action remain unanswered a decade later — and what it will take to make more progress.
But Gov. Gen Mary Simon, the first Indigenous person to serve in that role, said the country is making “meaningful progress” on the path to reconciliation.
“Many schools are embracing inclusive history. More and more initiatives across Canada are making space for Indigenous children to learn and speak their ancestral languages. Governments are working with Indigenous communities to address systemic issues and bolster self-sufficiency. Relationships are being renewed, grounded in respect and dialogue,” Simon said in a statement.
“But much work remains. Denialism and discrimination persist. Many Indigenous communities are striving to heal from generational trauma while struggling to meet basic needs,” she said, calling on Canadians to mark the day by renewing their commitment to reconciliation.
Both Carney and Simon will speak at a ceremony in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoon.
