CANADA
Government of Ontario
June 2, 2015
Office of the Premier
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne released the following statement in response to the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report summary:
“I would like to thank The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair and the entire Truth and Reconciliation Commission for assembling what will be Canada’s most comprehensive report on the atrocities committed at residential schools. I would especially like to thank the Survivors who shared their experiences and who have shone a light into one of the darkest chapters of our country’s history.
The Commission has offered us an opportunity to renew our relationship with Aboriginal partners, and challenged us to renew our commitment to live together on this land based on principles of trust, mutual respect and shared benefits. Working with our First Nations, Métis and Inuit partners, it is a challenge the province of Ontario is grateful to accept. Our government will carefully review the report summary and its recommendations, and we look forward to reviewing the final report in its entirety.
Today, I want to reaffirm the Province of Ontario’s commitment to reconciliation, to supporting Survivors and to continuing to build trust with Aboriginal partners.
For reconciliation to succeed, we must also renew our commitment to educating Ontarians on the role that treaties and the residential school legacy play in Canada’s past, present and future. That is why we have worked with Aboriginal and other partners in revising our curriculum to include greater requirements for students to learn about the residential school experience, and will continue to do so from a perspective that honours Survivors, encourages critical thinking, and teaches an understanding of both the short and long-term consequences of residential schools.
Ontario is also working with Aboriginal partners to make everyone in the province aware of our rights and responsibilities as treaty people. This includes the work we have done to distribute treaty maps to every publicly funded school in Ontario, our support for the Anishinabek Nation in developing the “We Are All Treaty People” Teacher’s Kit, and our work to make the “Walk-A-Mile Film Project” available in schools and libraries across the province.
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