June is National Indigenous History Month since 2009. June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day since 1996. Both the month and day is about celebrating Indigenous History and is a great opportunity to learn about the cultures and history of the Indigenous people. However, for this National Indigenous History Month, I actually want to highlight a different day. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which is on every September 30 since 2021.
As Federal Public Servants each year we take courses to learn more about the Indigenous peoples, groups, and history, and we are reminded every September 30 to learn more about Truth and Reconciliation. But what is Truth and Reconciliation? Is this something that as an individual we can help? Or is it something as a Federal Public Servant? Or is it up to the government? The truth is, it is EVERYONES responsibility to learn and understand the Indigenous peoples and their history in Canada. HOWEVER, the government plays a big role with the 94 Calls to Action.
You may have heard Calls to Action for the Indigenous people and may be going what are they? What does this mean? Who came up with the Calls to Action? The 94 Calls to Action is something that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission came up with in June 2015 after spending 6 years travelling and hearing from more than 6,500 witnesses about what should be done. The Calls to Action are divided into several categories: Children and Youth, Language and Culture, Health, Justice in the Legal system, History and Commemoration, and Reconciliation.
The majority of these Calls to Action, 76 in fact, are accountable by the federal government either alone or in partnership with the provinces and territories. Since 2015, one would wonder how many Calls to Actions have been completed. A lot are in progress and you can read the progress online directly from the Government of Canada but how many are completed? If you ask the Federal Government it’s 17. If you ask CBC it’s 13. Yellow Institute or Indigenous Watchdog, it’s 11. Want to know the exact breakdown? This chart from the Indigenous Watchdog is great at seeing at a glance where the disagreement lines. I recommend reading the article to see the rationale for the disagreement for each Call to Action.
| Calls to Action | Description of Completed Calls to Action (by Federal Government) | CBC | Yellowhead | Indigenous Watchdog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Enact Indigenous child welfare legislation | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 13 | Acknowledge Indigenous Rights include Indigenous Language Rights | Complete | Complete | Complete |
| 14 | Enact an Indigenous Languages Act | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 15 | Appoint an Indigenous Languages Commissioner | Complete | Complete | Complete |
| 25 | Develop written policy affirming independence of Royal Canadian Mounted Police from government in civil litigation | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 41 | Appoint a national Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls | Complete | Complete | Incomplete |
| 43 | Fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 67 | Provide funding to the Canadian Museums Association for a national review of museum policies and best practices | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 68 | Establish a reconciliation funding program to commemorate Canada 150 projects on reconciliation | Incomplete | Incomplete | Complete |
| 72 | Provide sufficient resources to develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death Register | Incomplete | Complete | Incomplete |
| 78 | $10M funding to NCTR + $10M for communities for reconciliation | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 80 | Establish a statutory holiday, “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” | Complete | Complete | Complete |
| 83 | Establish strategies for Canada Council for the Arts funding for Indigenous reconciliation projects | Complete | Complete | Complete |
| 84 | Increase funding for the CBC to support reconciliation | Complete | Incomplete | Complete |
| 87 | Provide public education to tell national stories of Indigenous athletes | Incomplete | Incomplete | Incomplete |
| 88 | Ensure long-term Indigenous athlete development and support for the North American Indigenous Games | Complete | Complete | Incomplete |
| 94 | Replace the Oath of Citizenship with a new oath with Indigenous content | Complete | Complete | Complete |
Now you may be asking, what is the point of knowing this? We as Canadian Citizens, Federal Public Servants, Union Members, caring and loving members of the public can put pressure to ensure that these Calls to Action are completed. PSAC led the Red Dress Campaign to raise awareness on the national issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Due to the voice of the people, a search for missing and murdered women in Manitoba’s landfill will commence soon. We can also educate our friends, family, parents and children about the history of the Indigenous people and celebrate their history and culture. Have open and honest conversations with one another, so that the 94 Calls to Action can be completed and not forgotten and let go in the history books.