AFN Chief Perry Bellegarde file photo
Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde is calling for faster results in regard to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on its calls to action.
His comments come on the two-year anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. He says change is not happening fast enough and the socio-economic gap between First Nations and Canadians isn’t closing.
“The past two years has seen a great response from all Canadians who have embraced reconciliation, but change is not happening fast enough,” said the AFN Chief.
Bellegarde says the problems of clean drinking water and adequate housing still remain 2 years after the TRC released its 94 calls to action on priorities facing Indigenous communities.
He says the framework for change has been laid out and with Canada now accepting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, that the government should not wait any longer.
In 2015, the Commission released a report with 94 calls to action including action on child welfare, justice, education, health and the call for a murdered and missing women’s inquiry.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was mandated in the Indian Residential School Agreement of 2007. The findings followed six years of hearing testimony from more than 7,000 former residential school students across the country.