Understanding Truth & Business Reconciliation

The 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are a direct result of Canada’s tragic history with Indigenous people, particularly the treatment of Indigenous children. 

The federal residential school system is as old as Canada is. The intention of the schools was to kill the ‘Indian’ within the child. Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and placed in the federal residential schools where they were forbidden from speaking their language, keeping their hair long, and practicing their culture. Many children suffered abuse and others never made it back home. 

Creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

In 1996, survivors sued the federal government for the treatment endured at the federal residential schools. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed and mirrored after a commission of the same name in South Africa that held hearings about the treatment of black people during apartheid. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released the 94 Calls to Action to call upon Canada to right the wrongs of the past by implementing the actions. 

The 94 Calls to Action aren’t meant to be all completed by one person or by one level of government. They are a series of calls to action that apply to various levels of governments and organizations. Call #92 is labelled ‘Business Reconciliation’ and applies to the business/corporate sector. 

Call #92 Business and Reconciliation

We call upon the corporate sector in Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources. This would include, but not be limited to, the following: 

i. Commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects. 

ii. Ensure that Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector, and that Aboriginal communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects. 

iii. Provide education for management and staff on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Although this is a fantastic call to action, it doesn’t provide business leaders direction on how to achieve it.

I work with businesses that want to honor this call by building a reconciliation strategy that is aligned to the needs and strengths of the local Indigenous communities and their business. Together, we work to build meaningful relations, identify your unique opportunities, and find joint economic development initiatives that benefit both. Contact me for a consultation.