10 Years of Reconciliation work: Where are we at?

In 2015, a relatively new organization released an executive summary demanding the country start down a new path.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), released the  94 Calls to Action, ‘to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.’

Response by government, academic institutions, and industries was overwhelmingly receptive, with many committing to policy changes, education, and implementation of the Calls to Action.

Reconciliation initiatives, mandates, internal departments, and conversations multiplied.

In 2021, Canada established a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th it is also known as Orange Shirt Day.

In Saskatchewan, municipalities launched their own Reconciliation organizations, including Regina and Saskatoon, but there are signs momentum has slowed.

In Saskatoon, neither the City’s Indigenous Initiatives department or Reconciliation Saskatoon responded to requests for an interview, while in Regina, Reconciliation Regina has a board directors, they have no current organizational leadership and their site has been inactive since March 2023.

But there is still hope.

Indigenous Relations at the City of Regina continues to push for Reconciliation.

“I think because of the TRC Calls to Action, and because we’ve started making space for Reconciliation in the city, I think Indigenous voices are growing stronger and making a case for more work to come forward,” said Chelsea Low, acting director of Indigenous Relations at the City of Regina.

She said the city has developed an Indigenous framework to help include the Indigenous worldview within all their policies and practices, as well as a procurement policy to make space for Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs – both of which she said have been highly impactful developments.

She also points to other developments in advancing Reconciliation: the newly created Indigenous ceremony site by King’s Lake; the renaming of parks, spaces, and buildings to reflect different language groups within Treaty 4; and the recently announced Legacy of Treaty 4: A Tribute to MMIWG2S+, a commemorative art project to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people.

“It’s going to acknowledge the harms of the past while making a space to provide healing going forward,” said Low. “I think that’s true Reconciliation – acknowledging our past and finding a way to move forward together.”

She admits there’s still room to do more.

While the Indigenous population in Saskatchewan is around 17 per cent, according to Statistics Canada 2021 Census, Low said the City of Regina’s Indigenous workforce is only about six-to-seven per cent.

“I’d love to see a representative workforce,” she said. “When we talk about Reconciliation, we talk about the seven generational thinking, where we’re making impacts that future generations can benefit from.”

Before Reconciliation was part of our contemporary vocabulary, the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan (MCoS), was working to make Saskatchewan a more inclusive and educated place. For half a century it has been raising awareness about the benefits of cultural diversity and dangers of racism.

“In the 50 years we’ve been around, ideas of multiculturalism have really evolved and changed,” said Rhonda Rosenberg, MCoS executive director. “It used to be focused on European cultures and a few others, not really focused on First Nations and Métis cultures.”

But as the province grows things have changed.

“Now, diversity in the province has increased a lot, and so has our understanding of what’s really necessary for people to live together well.”

Rosenberg says Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations have been among the most committed organizations to Reconciliation.  Overall in the provinces, she sees more knowledge with more organizations willing to do outreach.

“I’m seeing a difference in the way our members think and talk – the kinds of initiatives they’re still doing that we created years ago,” said Rosenberg.

However, she’s also noticed a slowing of Reconciliation efforts and priorities with others, particularly at the federal government level.

In 2023, Canada said the ‘over 85% of the Calls to Action involving the Government of Canada are now completed or well underway’, while Indigenous Watchdog marked that progress at only 66 percent.

Locally, MCoS’s work in anti-racism is received inconsistently, said Rosenberg.

“I’ve seen here in Saskatchewan that people find it easier to talk about anti-black or anti-Asian racism than anti-Indigenous racism,” said Rosenberg. “I think there’s fear around what it means for our land and wealth. I think it hits too close to home.”

Kelsey Aitcheson, co-ordinates the Intercultural Connections and Anti-Racism Engagement (ICARE) project at MCoS, which aims to build relationships between Indigenous, newcomer, immigrant, and settler communities, also believes there’s still significant progress to be made.

“Reconciliation in Saskatchewan is tough,” said Aitcheson.

She believes there is still a lot of work to be done in this area.

“Saskatchewan seems to be behind in a lot of different ways, and Reconciliation seems to be more a political conversation than an action that people are taking here,” said Aitcheson.

The concept of economic Reconciliation has become one of the most common forms of Reconciliation, said Aitcheson, such as the Cow and Plows Claim, which use money as reparation.

“Unfortunately economic Reconciliation falls into the capitalist model of building businesses and personal financial prosperity,” said Aitcheson. “I think Reconciliation in terms of healing communities and individuals has really slowed.”

Although reparations are good it only addresses one aspect of Reconciliation.

“It’s this type of thinking – we’ve done our job, we’ve paid them, now they can be OK,” said Aitcheson.  “That’s a big generalization and I know not everyone has that thought process, but once we’ve included money in Reconciliation, it’s really slowed down this idea that we need to integrate healing into things.”

The ICARE program was created to address this very need – to deepen understanding between Saskatchewan’s diverse communities.

Rosenberg said they still see a lot of racial tensions in Saskatchewan, and often hear of newcomers who learn negative stereotypes about Indigenous people shortly after, or even before, arriving in Canada.

“It’s a repetition of the stereotypes that come from structural racism,” said Rosenberg. “Then we see resentment and fear from Indigenous folks from seeing the support and job opportunities that newcomers sometimes get.”

A video taken in Prince Albert went viral in August, capturing a violent fist-fight between individuals who appear to be of South Asian descent and Indigenous descent.

The video sparked a torrent of racially motivated comments on social media.

Also in August a video circulated on social media showing men in a vehicle in the R.M. of Duck Lake with firearms. The RCMP investigated and recovered the firearms as a result Arshdeep Cheema,23, Harbaaz Singh, 21, and a 37-year-old woman with one name Priyanka face several firearms-related charges.

“We see a lot of (racism) comment sections in social media,” said Rosenberg.

But she knows not everyone carries those beliefs.

“We also see some Indigenous champions that are saying, ‘Wait a minute, we know what it’s like to experience racism and to have stereotypes piled on us. Let’s not do that to other brown folks. Let’s  make sure we’re creating relationships and alliances so we can actually confront racism.’ ”

The Mahmood Mosque in Regina is hosting an Every Child Matters event on Oct 5, as part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The Guru Nanak Free Kitchen was established in 2018 and every Sunday it hands out free meals and food in North Central Regina where there is a high Indigenous population.

While Saskatchewan does not have mandatory cultural education specifically for new Canadians, it does have mandatory Treaty Education for all grade levels.

New Canadians can access government-funded English and French language classes.

Buckley Belanger, the only Liberal MP in Saskatchewan, and former Mayor of Île-à-la-Crosse, said having cultural education is critical for New Canadians.

“It’s all about making sure, when they come to Canada or Saskatchewan, that they have a deep understanding of what the Indigenous community is about,” said Belanger.

He said it’s imperative everyone new to Canada is made aware of the dark history of Residential schools and the discriminatory practices of the old days.

“When you speak with newcomers and get them to learn the history, they have a genuine respect for the First Nations and Indigenous communities,” said Belanger.

He believes this type of education is a work in progress, and while nothing is mandatory, tools are available such as online courses.

As Mayor and in the provincial assembly, Belanger has personally taken time to work with new Canadians and educate them on Indigenous history.

“When you take the time, they see things in a whole new light,” he said. “I think the local initiatives, like what we had in Île-à-la-Crosse, have really paid off.” Belanger.

He also believes more work needs to happen.

“An important message to send is that with Reconciliation, we need everyone on board,” said Belanger.

He highlights efforts the federal government has made to improve the standard of living in Indigenous communities – such as providing housing or access to clean drinking water – as important steps towards Reconciliation.

“I think people in Canada generally understand that Indigenous communities have a certain challenge in issues like housing, unemployment, and everyday quality of life,” said Belanger. “A lot of Canada enjoys a great standard of living while a lot of Indigenous communities do no, so we’re trying to make sure we’re elevating those needs.”

The consensus is Reconciliation is still in a fragile state and more work needs to happen to ensure meaningful change does happen. However the politics environment outside Canada’s border has the potential to undue a lot of positive work already made.

The United States is shifting into a more overtly discriminatory place, which has had influence on behaviours here, said Rosenberg.

“Pre-Trump, it had been socially unacceptable to express racist, ableist, homophobic, or transphobic views publicly,” she said. “Now, people feel confident to express hateful and dehumanizing ideas publicly.”

MCoS’ Aitcheson has also seen a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric.

“There’s almost a palpable fear among minority communities,” she said. “We do need to challenge those ideas, and challenge them respectfully, and save space for people to have a learning and ‘ah-ha’ moments when it comes to racism and equity.”

Aitcheson remains hopeful Canada can ward off the the negative rhetoric and remain a proudly diverse country.

“As much as Trump is scaring people, he is bringing a lot of communities together and creating focus on people who are doing the work,” she said.

Both Aitcheson and Rosenberg believe the youth will lead the way in both Reconciliation and multiculturalism.

“Something I’ve seen from young kids is that they just accept people, and I think that’s beautiful,” said Aitcheson. “It doesn’t seem like work for them. If they’re so openly accepting of new friends then we should be able to do the same. We can take a lot of teaching from the young people.”