The Town of Collingwood received support from other municipalities across Canada for its call on the federal government to take action and provide funding for calls to action toward truth and reconciliation for victims of residential schools.
During an annual conference held by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on June 4, the members of the federation voted in favour of supporting a Collingwood-led resolution, making reconciliation for residential school victims part of the group's policy work for the next three years.
The federation includes representatives from 2,067 Canadian municipalities, which represent more than 93 per cent of the country’s population.
Councillor Kathy Jeffery has been Collingwood's representative and also an elected member of the FCM board of directors for several years.
“I was pleased and proud to be in attendance at the AGM to speak to the town’s resolution,” said Jeffery in a town news release.
The resolution from Collingwood urges FCM to call on the Government of Canada to take immediate action to address Calls to Action 71 to 76, including but not limited to providing sufficient funding and resources and federal government oversight to ensure collaborative efforts with Indigenous communities across Canada to achieve these.
The calls to action include:
- Allocate sufficient resources to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to allow it to develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death Register;
- Inform the families of children who died at residential schools of the child’s burial location, and to respond to families’ wishes for appropriate commemoration ceremonies and markers, and reburial in home communities where requested; and
- Work collaboratively with Indigenous communities across Canada to develop and implement strategies and procedures for the ongoing identification, documentation, maintenance, commemoration, and protection of residential school cemeteries or other sites at which residential school children were buried.
“FCM staff contributed to the analysis highlighting the importance of reaffirming the federation’s commitment ‘to continuing to play a crucial role in addressing the legacy of the residential school system,’ and go on to confirm that the resolution ‘will help FCM to build meaningful relationships with Indigenous organizations, support membership in building local capacity to advance reconciliation, as well as to develop a plan on reconciliation with the Big City Mayors Caucus engagement’.” explained Jeffery in the news release.
FCM staff will submit the resolution to the relevant federal minister and the matter will remain part of FCM policy work for three years.
