Northern survivors accommodated in new TRC office

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has taken critical steps to ensure that northern survivors of Indian residential schools are given every chance to tell their stories in a setting that is comfortable for them.
Not only is the next national event planned for Inuvik, but the TRC will be visiting 19 northern communities prior to the event, which will be held June 28 to July 1.
The announcement was made on Jan. 12, the same day the TRC’s Yellowknife office was officially opened.

“This is a very huge region, a very huge part of Canada, and this puts us closer to the region that we need to get to,” said TRC Commissioner Marie Wilson, who noted that the Yellowknife office would be her home base.

It will also be a place for survivors to have their statements taken. Language support and health support will be available in the northern office.

From March 15 through to May 27, the TRC and statement gathering team will be visiting two communities in Nunavik, Que., six communities in Nunavut, seven communities in the Northwest Territories, and four communities in the Yukon.

“The commissioners travelling into these northern communities during this particular schedule of hearings will not be the only time that the TRC will be available to northern communities,” said TRC Chair Murray Sinclair.

The communities to be part of the TRC’s northern tour were chosen in conjunction with the Inuit sub-commission, said Wilson. She noted that the sub-commission has been involved in the planning of the Inuvik national event, which has been in the works since late last summer.

“There is also a general template for the plan that we were able to develop based on the first national event, which was in Winnipeg….How do we revise and adapt that and make that appropriate to the particular location, region and cultural context of Inuvik,” said Wilson.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has developed a community events strategy to financially support organizations that are planning residential school survivor gatherings.

“We have been challenged in the statement-gathering process, quite frankly, because of the capacity issues we have faced as a commission… and issues surrounding the loss of funding by community and survivor groups because of the loss of funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation,” said Sinclair.

Last year, amidst much controversy, the federal government announced that it was cutting federal dollars to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The AHF funded activities and programs throughout Canada that allowed survivors to receive counseling and other support.

“It’s our view as commissioners that every person who wants to give a statement to the commission has the opportunity to do so,” said Sinclair.

To help survivors tell their stories, Sinclair said the TRC’s statement gathering team is developing a plan to visit at least 150 communities.

“We want to ensure there are facilities provided in those communities for people to come forward, rather than expecting they will be going to communities or events outside of their area of residence,” said Sinclair.

The second tour in 2011 planned will be of Atlantic Canada and will lead up to a national event to take place in Halifax, Oct. 27 to Oct. 30. Commission staff will work with regional liaisons and survivor communities in both areas to plan the tours, which could include regional events.

The first of seven national events took place in June in Winnipeg last year with an average of 10,000 people attending each day.

“We were overwhelmed quite frankly by the number of people who attended,” said Sinclair. “It just indicated to us the significance of the issue for the public, as well as the survivor population.”

Two national events are planned for 2012: Spring in British Columbia and summer in Saskatchewan. In 2013 there will be two more national events, which will take place in Quebec in the spring and in Alberta in the fall. A closing ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Ontario in 2014.

The TRC has a five-year mandate.

Commission staff is also developing a plan to help survivors travel to national events. Travel costs have been an obstacle to many survivors.

The TRC is working with the government, the private sector, churches and community organizations to put funding in place to help with travel.

“Statement gathering is a major part of our focus and we are hopeful we will be able to be up to capacity for doing that in the next several months,” said Sinclair.

Statement gathering will also take place in senior citizen and personal care homes, which have been identified by TRC staff. A statement gathering process is also being developed to talk to people in prison and living on the streets.