46. We call upon the parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to develop and sign a Covenant of Reconciliation that would identify principles for working collaboratively to advance reconciliation in Canadian society, and that would include, but not be limited to:
i. Reaffirmation of the parties’ commitment to reconciliation.
ii. Repudiation of concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, and the reformation of laws, governance structures, and policies within their respective institutions that continue to rely on such concepts.
iii. Full adoption and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.
iv. Support for the renewal or establishment of Treaty relationships based on principles of mutual recognition, mutual respect, and shared responsibility for maintaining those relationships into the future.
v. Enabling those excluded from the Settlement Agreement to sign onto the Covenant of Reconciliation.
vi. Enabling additional parties to sign onto the Covenant of Reconciliation.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls upon the parties of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (the federal Government and The United Church of Canada) to develop and sign a “Covenant of Reconciliation,” that would outline a plan for working together to contribute toward reconciliation in Canadian society. The principles for this plan would include, but are not limited to:
- To confirm that all parties are committed to reconciliation
- To renounce and discredit all concepts used to justify European Sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples, such as the Doctrine of Discover and terra nullius, and to reform laws, government structures and policies within their institutions that continue to rely on such concepts.
- Adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.
- Support the reestablishment of Treaty relationships based on mutual recognition, respect and a shared responsibility for maintaining these relationships in the future.
- Allowing those not included in the Settlement Agreement to sign onto the “Covenant of Reconciliation.”
- Allowing other parties to sign onto the “Covenant of Reconciliation.”
With rights violations in Canada like no access to clean drinking water or proper housing, adopting the UNDRIP would require immediate attention to these issues.
Further Reading:
Canada Was Never Terra Nullius International Law Doctrine, Practice and Theory.
Candian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement Legacy of Hope Foundation.
Compiled by: Samuel Bigelow