Mayor Jim Watson read an official Statement of Reconciliation on behalf of the City at a Council meeting on March 28, 2018.
Statement of Reconciliation adapted from the June 1, 2015 Federation of Canadian Municipalities Big City Mayors Caucus Statement of Reconciliation
THAT Ottawa City Council adopt the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Statement of Reconciliation from Canada’s Big City Mayors issued June 1, 2015:
Ottawa City Council recognizes the significance of the undertaking of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the release of the TRC's final report and its recommendations. It took many decades of advocacy by residential school survivors to establish the Commission, and the several years of gathering testimony, evidence and developing recommendations have been a difficult and exhausting process for survivors and Commissioners alike.
We recognize the deep and lasting traumatic impact that Canada's Indian Residential Schools had on individuals, their families, and communities both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. The history of these schools is one of pain and gross injustice that requires us all to make ongoing and concerted efforts to learn the truth about residential schools, acknowledge this history and its modern legacies in our cities and begin a shared journey of reconciliation.
Many Aboriginal people now living in Canada's largest cities continue to grapple with the most severe consequences of the intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools - but we are committed to supporting and delivering real change, working together with Aboriginal leaders.
Today we declare that we stand with Canada’s big city mayors and with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and commit ourselves to learning from the lessons of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and taking action to ensure the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal people are fully acknowledged in policy, and in the great cities we seek to build.
We stand together today in committing to a new equal partnership with Aboriginal people in Canada; one based on truth, dignity, and mutual respect.