Share
Delegates to Canadian Council unanimously adopted a motion endorsing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the legacy of residential schools.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias opened the session with a $25,000 donation to the First Nations Caring Society, which was accepted by the organization’s executive director Cindy Blackstock.
“I have a simple definition of reconciliation,” she said.
“It means not saying sorry twice. It means raising a generation of Aboriginal children who do not have to recover from their childhoods, and a generation of non-Aboriginal children who do not have to apologize for theirs.”
Blackstock reviewed the federal government’s shameful record on failing Aboriginal Canadians in education, health care, and more.
Delegates spoke passionately to the motion and shared stories of personal impact of racism in their communities and in their own locals.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission developed 94 recommendations to tell the truth about the past and move towards a healthier future.
Recommendations included significant education system reforms and a public inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
