Groups say Truth and Reconciliation position ‘a step on path to healing’

Orange Shirt Day, also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is on Friday

Local Indigenous organizations say the appointment of a Truth and Reconciliation director by the region is a hopeful step on the path to healing.

At the end of August, the Region of Waterloo announced Paula Whitlow would be the first person to step into the role. She started on Aug. 29, a month before the second annual day for Truth and Reconciliation on Friday.

Stephen Jackson is the CEO of Anishnabeg Outreach, an Indigenous community organization that started in Kitchener and has now expanded to Guelph. A third location is in the works for North York. They also host an online learning management system called AO Nest that “does what reconciliation needs to do, which is give back language, give back culture, and train people for employment,” Jackson said.

Speaking via Zoom, Jackson said the creation of the new position was welcome news.

“Reconciliation, from my perspective, is all about healing and economic independence for Indigenous people. It’s about building real relationships and partnerships to deliver support,” he said. “And I view Indigenous people in the region as the most underprivileged of all of the groups — the furthest from opportunity.”

Indigenous people living in Canada are vastly overrepresented in the criminal justice system, among children in government care and among the homeless population, Jackson added. For example, while Indigenous youth made up eight per cent of Canada’s youth population in 2016-2017, they accounted for 46 per cent of young people admitted to the corrections system in those years.

Jackson said Whitlow will have her work cut out for her when it comes to navigating the bureaucracy and building relationships. He didn’t specify a specific area he’d like her to focus on, instead noting that there are many opportunities to bolster the community.

“Building programs for Indigenous people, you literally can’t miss. Because all of them will move the needle on reconciliation, and all of them will move the needle on healing or mental health or reduction of those issues like poverty, dropout rates, and all the rest,” he said.

Donna Dubie is the executive director for The Healing of the Seven Generations, an organization out of Kitchener that works with individuals and families suffering from the intergenerational impacts of the residential school system. She said there are a few community projects she’s hoping Whitlow will be able to help move forward. The first is the transformation of the old Waterloo Region police building at 134 Frederick St. into a hub for the Indigenous community.

“There are approximately 10 Native organizations that are willing to move into that building. Talks were slow at first, and sometimes I feel like little hoops are being thrown out into the community. I think the new director can help alleviate some of those hoops and get the region moving,” Dubie said.

Another key challenge is funding for First Nations, Métis and Inuit organizations, which Dubie said are chronically underfunded. Likewise, she’d like greater access to decisionmakers in the region. Having Whitlow in a direct position to engage leaders is “absolutely” a positive step toward the goal of healing and reconciliation.

“Paula has got a lot of tradition and culture behind her. She comes from a wealth of knowledge when it comes to understanding what treaties are all about. So I hope that she’ll have a clearer path when it comes to speaking with the region …” Dubie said.

But there is still a ways to go. While Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched more than 15 years ago, Dubie said it’s only in the last two years, with the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves on former residential school grounds, that things have started to accelerate. She calls those discoveries a heart-wrenching relief, because now Canadians could see for themselves what Indigenous people had known for years.

Both Jackson and Dubie both said that they felt the new Truth and Reconciliation director position is a tangible first step toward healing for Indigenous people.

“I always want to have some faith that there’s good intent out there,” said Dubie. “So I would want to say, for our community, to send Paula some good thoughts and hopefully, she can make some movement happen.”

Jackson said it’s an incredible opportunity for the region to pave the way for other communities in Canada.

“I’m very hopeful,” he said. “I think the region gets to be a leader of the country and I think that’s kind of the hallmark of what Waterloo Region is.”