Question Period Note: Residential Schools National Monument

To address the legacy of residential schools and advance reconciliation, the Government committed to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including Call to Action 81, which calls for the creation of a Residential Schools National Monument in Ottawa to honour Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities. Work on Call to Action 81 is in the early planning stages, specifically regarding engagement with Indigenous peoples.

• Call to Action 81 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls on the federal government, in collaboration with Survivors, to install “a publicly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools National Monument in the city of Ottawa to honour Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities.”
• Preliminary work on this important project has already begun, in collaboration with Survivors. Our Government will collaborate with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples on the various phases of this commemorative project.
• Our Government is committed to advancing reconciliation and renewing the relationship with Indigenous peoples based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.

• The Government of Canada is named as the lead in this call to action. Canadian Heritage is the designated department given its responsibility as lead department for monuments in the Capital under the Policy on National Commemorative Monuments on Federal Lands in Canada's Capital Region.
• PCH organized a Survivor Engagement Workshop in October 2019, in Ottawa. It was the first formal exchange with Indigenous communities on the development of a vision for the monument. The workshop was designed and led by Dr. Marie Wilson, former Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner, who subsequently engaged with the National Indigenous Organizations to share the results of the workshop in January and February 2020.
• Currently, no source of funds have been secured for this monument project.
• Once funding is confirmed for the project, a Steering Committee will be established to make recommendations on key decisions throughout the duration of the project.
• Once the Steering Committee is formed, the next steps would be to begin the site selection process and to establish the approach for the design competition.

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