Students from the Uxbridge Secondary School Grade 12 Contemporary Indigenous Issues class have created a petition (e-4685) – linked below – directed at the Canadian Government to:
Acknowledge the priority importance in the completion of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission ) Calls 2, 9, 19 and 30, and to fulfill its commitment to the Calls to Action as highlighted in the TRC Final Report
Member of Parliament, Jennifer O’Connell has agreed to bring the petition forward to the House of Commons on behalf of those that have signed.
These are issues affect people throughout Canada and has already been signed by people in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Link to the petition: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4685
The petition reads:
Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
- More than seven years after the publication of the 94 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), little progress has been made. So far, only 13 of the 94 Calls have been completed, most of them focusing on symbols rather than structures (Yellowhead Institute, Calls to Action Accountability, 2022 Report);
- Calls to Action 2, 9, and 19 call for data necessary to measure the completion of most of the Legacy Calls to Action (1-42) (Yellowhead Institute), making it difficult to measure progress and assess the completion of most Legacy Calls;
- Although Call to Action 30 is asking for the Government to eliminate overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in prison over the next decade, Statistics Canada reported in 2020-21 a rate of incarceration still at 9 times higher than non-Indigenous people. Call 30 also requires appropriate data collection and reporting in order to monitor and evaluate progress; and
- The lack of priority sequence in the completion of the Calls to Action (specifically 2, 9, 19 and 30) by the Canadian Government is stalling progress in structural changes. At this speed, many Residential School survivors will not live to see the positive changes they hoped for (Yellowhead Institute).
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Acknowledge the priority importance in the completion of Calls 2, 9, 19 and 30; and
2. Fulfill its commitment to implement the Calls to Actions as highlighted in the TRC Final Report by prioritizing Calls 2, 9, 19 and 30.
Please sign and support their efforts in advancing these Calls to Action relating to the collection and dissemination of the critical data essential to monitor how reconciliation is advancing for these specific Indigenous issues: Child Welfare, Education, Health and Justice.