Summary:
The federal government has not yet commissioned or installed a Residential Schools National Monument in the city of Ottawa but has pledged money for one. It also established a survivor-led steering committee to oversee the project.
The Call to Action:
We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Survivors and their organizations, and other parties to the Settlement Agreement, to commission and install a publicly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools National Monument in the city of Ottawa to honour Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities.
Watch former senator and TRC head Murray Sinclair read Call to Action 81
Analysis:
The federal government has not yet commissioned or installed a Residential Schools National Monument in the city of Ottawa.
However, in August 2021, the federal government pledged $20 million in new funding would be set aside to build a national monument in Ottawa “to honour survivors and all the children who were taken from their families and communities.”
In April 2022, the federal government announced the 16 members of its “survivor-led steering committee” for the monument, which includes First Nations, Inuit and Metis survivors of residential schools and intergenerational trauma.
The steering committee was to hold its first meeting in May 2022 to discuss the project.
The committee will then start work on selecting a site and launching a design process. A planned completion date has not been set.