‘It’s going to take us 150 years’: Canada still working to implement Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations

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A decade after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls to action, Canada still has a long way to go to address the impacts of the residential school system on Indigenous people.

“Think about it, 150 years it took for us to get here to this very dysfunctional, toxic relationship that is highly problematic,” University of Manitoba Indigenous studies professor Niigaan Sinclair told CTV’s Your Morning on Monday. “It’s going to take us 150 years to get to a different place, [but] in 10 years we have done some substantial work.”

Sinclair is a writer, activist and the son of former judge and senator Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009 to 2015, when it issued its final report. Murray Sinclair passed away in 2024 at age 73.

According to the non-profit group Indigenous Watchdog, 40 per cent of the commission’s 94 calls to action have not started or are currently stalled.

Only 14 of those calls to action have been completed to date, including the appointment of an Indigenous language commissioner and the establishment of a statutory holiday. Also known as Orange Shirt Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation falls on Sept. 30.

“The young kids, the students … they absolutely understand that this is a critical issue,” Sinclair said. “You have to put Indigenous Peoples at the centre for every single economic issue, environmental issue and every single step forward in this country.”

Of the remaining calls to action, 42 remain in progress, 22 are stalled and 15 have not started, according to Indigenous Watchdog. None of the calls to action pertaining to child welfare, education and health have been completed.

“There are certain calls to action, about three quarters of them, that will just never be done, they will be ongoing,” Sinclair explained. “Health, child welfare – these are ongoing tasks.”

Sinclair says when it comes to issues like education, he is still seeing important progress, which he largely credits to the leadership of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

“While [he] made many mistakes during his time and perhaps had as many stumbles as there was successes, Justin Trudeau was the first prime minister to really care to engage Indigenous issues meaningfully,” Sinclair said. “Every prime minister before that, including his own father, were harmful and cruel.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said there has been “significant progress made in advancing reconciliation and implementing the Calls to Action in partnership with Indigenous People,” adding that “more than 85 per cent of calls requiring the federal government’s sole or shared leadership have been completed or are well underway.”

The spokesperson cited increased support to protect Indigenous languages, establishing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as the National Council for Reconciliation, and the $255 million from the federal government for 162 Indigenous-led projects through the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund as “significant milestones.”

“While significant progress has been made over the last decade, we know that work remains and that reconciliation requires sustained efforts across all levels of government, in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,” the spokesperson said.