Summary:
A bill to establish a National Council for Reconciliation was tabled in the House of Commons in June 2022.
The Call to Action:
We call upon the Parliament of Canada, in consultation and collaboration with Aboriginal Peoples, to enact legislation to establish a National Council for Reconciliation. The legislation would establish the council as an independent, national oversight body, with membership jointly appointed by the Government of Canada and national Aboriginal organizations, and consisting of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members. Its mandate would include, but not be limited to, the following:
i) Monitor, evaluate and report annually to Parliament and the people of Canada on the Government of Canada’s post-apology progress on reconciliation to ensure that government accountability for reconciling the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown in maintained in the coming years.
ii) Monitor, evaluate and report annually to Parliament and the people of Canada on reconciliation progress across all levels and sectors of Canadian society, including the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
iii) Develop and implement a multi-year National Action Plan for Reconciliation, which includes research and policy development, public education programs, and resources.
iv) Promote public dialogue, private/public partnerships, and public initiatives for reconciliation.
Analysis:
On June 22, 2022, the federal government tabled Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, in the House of Commons.
The bill would establish an independent, non-partisan council that would report annually to Parliament on the state of reconciliation and make recommendations to all levels of government and Canadian society.
Under the bill, the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and the transitional committee would select most of the nine to 13 directors for the oversight body on four-year terms.
The three national Indigenous organizations — Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Métis National Council and the Assembly of First Nations — would also select a director each.
Two-thirds of the council must be Indigenous, under the proposed legislation.
In January 2022, the transitional committee tasked with setting up the board of directors was announced by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC). The committee members are Wilton Littlechild, Mitch Case, Edith Cloutier, Rosemary Cooper and Mike DeGagne.
The 2019 federal budget pledged to provide $126.5 million in 2020–21 to establish the National Council for Reconciliation and endow it with initial operating capital. But this is less than the $1 billion endowment fund recommended by an interim board.