A Brief History of Reconciliation in Canada

Abstract

This article provides a roadmap of the process of reconciliation in Canada, beginning with the first articulation of the word in Canadian law, and carrying on through to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, the Oka Crisis, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, and finally, Prime Minister’s promise to fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 “Calls to Action”. The author argues that in order for reconciliation to be realized, the governments of Canada will need to recognize and affirm local Indigenous education laws, as it pertains to their right to govern themselves in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.