Backgrounder - Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The final report of the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) recognized that the future must include an opportunity for former students of residential schools to share their stories, to help shed light on a significant part of Canadian history. Following this report, a Residential Schools Unit at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada was created in 1996. In 1998, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was established to support healing initiatives for Métis, Inuit and First Nations people.

In June 2001, the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada (IRSRC) was created to focus federal efforts to manage and resolve abuse claims in a fair manner. The Government launched the National Resolution Framework in 2003 that included an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process designed to ensure that all claims are verified in a less-adversarial manner.

In 2004, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) hosted a national conference to examine the ADR process and published a Report on Canada's Dispute Resolution Plan to Compensate for Abuses in Indian Residential Schools. It set out requirements for a holistic, just and fair settlement for former students of residential schools.

The Honourable Frank Iacobucci was appointed to lead discussions with legal counsel for former residential school students, the Churches, the AFN, and other Aboriginal organizations. The aim of those discussions was to develop a fair and lasting resolution for those students.

On May 10, 2006, the Government announced the approval by all parties for the largest class action settlement in Canadian history: the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA). The Government's representative, the Honourable Frank Iacobucci, concluded the IRSSA with legal representatives of former students of Indian Residential Schools, legal representatives of the Churches involved in running those schools, the Assembly of First Nations, and other Aboriginal organizations.

The IRSSA was approved by the Courts and came into effect on September 19, 2007. It includes the following individual and collective measures to address the legacy of the Indian Residential School system:

• Common Experience Payment to be paid to all eligible former students who resided at a recognized Indian Residential School;
• Independent Assessment Process for claims of sexual and serious physical abuse;
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission;
• Commemoration Activities;
• Measures to support healing such as the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program and an endowment to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

As a component of the Agreement, the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be an official independent body that will oversee a process to provide former students and anyone who has been affected by the Indian Residential School legacy, with an opportunity to share their individual experiences in a safe and culturally appropriate manner.

Over the course of its five-year mandate, the Commission will:

• Prepare a comprehensive historical record on the policies and operations of the schools;
• Complete a publicly accessible report that will include recommendations to the Government of Canada concerning the Indian Residential School system and its legacy;
• Establish a research centre by the end of the it's mandate that will be a permanent resource for all Canadians;
• Host seven national events in different regions across Canada to promote awareness and public education about the Indian Residential School system and its impacts;
• Support events designed by individual communities to meet their unique needs;
• Support a Commemoration Initiative that will provide funding for activities that honour and pay tribute in a permanent and lasting manner to former Indian Residential School students.