On  11 June 2008, the former Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, delivered an official apology to the survivors of the Indian Residential Schools. He publicly apologized to Canada’s Aboriginal People for the IRS system, admitting that residential schools were part of a Canadian policy  to assimilate Indigenous people into the western culture. Canada's mission was to a white Canada, not a multicultural Canada.

          An apology has been made, but not accepted by the Indigenous people. Nothing has changed since the IRSSA (Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement) was signed and apologies were made. The Inuit people in Nunavut territory still live without access to food, Aboriginal women are still missing in British Columbia, Aboriginal suicide rates and life expectancies still remain the same, there is no proper system for Indigenous education/studies in the public schools, the gap in wealth between Aboriginal communities and non-Aboriginal communities has not narrowed, Indigenous lands are still being used by the federal government and etc. When will fair opportunities be provided to the Indigenous people? Can they retrieve their normal and abuse-free lives from an apology? As long there is no mechanism in place, the problems created by the IRS system and the policy of forced assimilation will remain there. 

          Reconciliation is the act of creating relations with an empathetic understanding. It is about to restore, repair or make good relations again to achieve a settlement. The TRC’s mandate is about revealing the IRS system for what it was. It is not about restoration. Aboriginal people in Canada still need to have their lives restored to achieve a settlement. They need to be given back the tools that were taken from them through which solutions can be built. These tools are traditional Aboriginal infrastructures, that were destroyed by the IRS system and forced assimilation. Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples need to have their traditional roots restored to achieve a settlement and permanently solve problems facing their communities. To accomplish this, Canada needs a meaningful advising and understanding Indigenous issues process. This way, Canadian can be updated on what is happening to the First Nations' people to take an action for their security. Also, this will unite First Nation, Inuit and Métis people with their equal rights.

 

To take a look at the official apology: https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1100100015649