A shelving unit stands next to my bed, a home for my favourite books. I have shelves dedicated to Indigenous writers. On the top shelf is the Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In the preface, dated June 2, 2015, the Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair, Dr. Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild, both commissioners, explained the essence of the commission: the six years travelling to all parts of Canada to hear the truth from “Aboriginal people who had been taken from their families as children, forcibly if necessary, and placed for much of their childhoods in residential schools”.
The commission heard from 6,000+ witnesses whose difficult stories were shared with tremendous courage. The commission’s purpose was not to shame or blame but instead to identify the hard truth of the legacy of residential schools and then ask the question, “what do we do about it?” Getting to the truth was an arduous journey, but getting to reconciliation, the Commission warned, “will be harder”.
I often reach for this book as a reminder of my responsibility to understand and play a role in achieving reconciliation. I naively hoped that in my lifetime, I would see the 94 calls to action fully implemented and complete, see the commission’s work become redundant, not because its value had faded, but because Indigenous rights were solidly upheld and formed part of our Canadian governance and consciousness. We’re a long way from such an achievement. Where are we 11 years after the final report?
The federal government assures that they “have reached many milestones with 85 per cent of the calls to action marked completed or well underway.” An independent Indigenous led assessment finds only 10 to 13 of the 94 calls fully completed. Why the difference?
The gap is in differing assessments of “completion”. The Federal government considers a call as “completed or well underway” once legislation has been passed or a program has been put in place. Indigenous organizations only consider a call complete when the intended outcomes are fully realized in communities. The independent trackers’ evaluation assesses the call’s “full intent” having been met, not just introduced. Calls one to 42 deal with legacy, and calls 43 to 94 are acts of reconciliation.
Call 53, “Establish the national council for reconciliation,” was only established last year. Call 80, “Establish a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,” was completed in 2021. These two calls are straightforward responses, yet years passed before they were implemented, demonstrating the commission’s warning of the inherent difficulty in ensuring government focus. Calls 13 and 14 were passed in 2019 with the Indigenous Languages Act, acknowledging Indigenous language rights.
Call one was to reduce the number of Indigenous children in care, improve investigations, support families and train social workers. The act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families came into force in 2020. Call 76, Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, was created in 2021, supporting over 160 Indigenous-led searches.
Calls 43 and 44, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), was passed in 2021. The UNDRIP Act requires the Federal government to work “in full partnership” with Indigenous peoples to uphold their human rights.
The UNDRIP Act is a human rights instrument guiding how Canadian law is interpreted and applied while ensuring federal laws are consistent with the Act’s objectives and requires annual public reporting to Parliament on its implementation progress. The act sets minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well-being of Indigenous peoples.
Call 94, citizenship oath updated to include Indigenous rights, was implemented in 2021. Call 58, the Pope’s apology in Canada, was marked as completed in 2022, identifying the “evil committed by so many Christians”, not apologizing for the Institution of the Catholic Church but instead for “members of the Catholic Church”. Calls 77 and 78 establish the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which is in place to protect survivor records.
The report card from the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) shows far slower progress, showing 13 calls completed since 2015, with zero completed in 2024-2025 and only two completed in the last five years. Independent Truth and Reconciliation Dashboard in 2024 credited 10 of the 94 calls completed (11 per cent), with 75 in progress and nine not yet started. Entire categories within child welfare, education, health and justice show zero completed calls.
There has been progress, clearly within legislation, symbolic recognition and institutional creation, but those calls requiring structural change in child welfare, justice, education and health remain incomplete.
2025 saw renewed demands for accountability and concerns about federal budget cuts, while the process of reconciliation is an ongoing one that requires sustained, long-term investment. I continue to read the Summary of the Final Report, and I wonder how many Canadians are aware of its existence. Identifying Canada’s history and creating change to right those wrongs is a responsibility we all bear.
