Implementation of TRC Calls to Action
The following is a summary of the work the City has undertaken as it relates to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Calls to Action related to municipalities.
TRC #43 - UNDRIP
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As a part of the Year of Reconciliation, the Indigenous Relations Division has been working with students from the University of Winnipeg's Masters in Development Practice: Indigenous Development with respect to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Call to Action #43.
The students recently completed a research project to develop recommendations for the City of Winnipeg to consider regarding the potential implementation of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On December 6, 2016, Mayor Bowman and representatives from the City of Winnipeg met with students to receive their final report and hear their recommendations. See the year end administrative report for details.
TRC #47 - Doctrine
The City of Winnipeg is currently recruiting a law student to help with the research required for this action.
TRC #57 - Training
The City has developed a plan to provide learning opportunities to civic employees that support the education to public servants call to action. To date the public service has created a half day course W'daeb Awaewe (Ojibway for The Truth As We Know It) that provides an insight into residential schools with a Winnipeg focus. The availability for an existing two day course called Chi Ki Ken Da Mun (Ojibway for "So You Should Know") has also been increased to provide more opportunities for the public service to participate with the objective of having all staff complete one of these sessions within the next few years.
Other opportunities to learn about Indigenous culture and history were also offered through the Corporate Education calendar and through IRD.
The Winnipeg Public Library also developed opportunities for learning to support this Call to Action. These opportunities included but were not limited to a speaker series and links on their website for resources.
These training opportunities will promote public service excellence and provide employees with critical knowledge and awareness of the historical significance of the peoples of this land, their experiences, and the multi-generational impacts of Indian Residential Schools. This training is important as it helps employees engage their colleagues and citizens with a renewed perspective that will strengthen relationships between individuals and communities. See more information on training.
TRC #75 - Cemeteries
A multipronged approach has been developed for this call to action. Strategies include research into the installation of a memorial/monument at Brookside Cemetery to honour the children buried there; connecting with families to discuss identification and memorials; identifying other stakeholders who hold key information that could help us identify unmarked graves; and identifying supports for healing and reconciliation. See more information on Cemeteries.
We will also begin looking into how our work for this call to action, impacts the following related Calls to Action:
#73 Missing Children and Burial Information - We call upon the federal government to work with churches, Aboriginal communities, and former residential school students to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including, where possible, plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children.
#74 Missing Children and Burial Information - We call upon the federal government to work with the churches and Aboriginal community leaders to inform the families of children who died at residential schools of the child's burial location, and to respond to families' wishes for appropriate commemoration ceremonies and markers, and reburial in home communities where requested.
#76 Missing Children and Burial Information - We call upon the parties engaged in the work of documenting, maintaining, commemorating, and protecting residential school cemeteries to adopt strategies in accordance with the following principles:
- The Aboriginal community most affected shall lead the development of such strategies.
- Information shall be sought from residential school Survivors and other Knowledge Keepers in the development of such strategies.
- Aboriginal protocols shall be respected before any potentially invasive technical inspection and investigation of a cemetery site.
TRC #77 - Archives
The Public Service has met with National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) staff to exchange information in regards to how the City of Winnipeg can support the NCTR's collection of archival information. City employees have begun identifying and gathering records to share with NCTR as well as determining how we can share this information more broadly. These records include hard copy and digital formats. We are also reaching out to museums to determine what information they may have in terms of historical data that could be shared. Find our most current update here.