94 Calls to Action are not proposals but declarations, says Mohawk journalist

Thu, January 19, 2023 at 10:43 a.m. MST·2 min read

Reading and understanding each of the 94 Calls to Action set forth by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada can be daunting.

The Calls to Action released in 2015, call on federal, provincial, territorial and Aboriginal Nations to act. These are not “proposals or suggestions” but declarations, all vital to the process of reconciliation and healing.

Calls to Action 1 to 5 deal with child welfare.

“If we can raise a generation of non-Indigenous kids who don’t normalize discrimination, and have the tools to peacefully and respectfully advocate for the end of this kind of apartheid system, then we’ll be in a position where First Nations children never have to recover from their childhoods again,” stated Cindy Blackstock, professor and child advocate, School of Social Work at McGill University, in the McGill Reporter.

Blackstock’s credentials go before her: United Nations consultee, winner of countless accolades, honorary degrees from universities across the country and membership in the Order of Canada.

Call to Action 3, Jordan’s Principle, is a child-first needs-based Canadian principle used to ensure that First Nations children, living on or off reserve, have equitable access to government-funded public services and to not be denied access. This principle is in memory of Jordan River Anderson, from Norway House Cree Nation, in Manitoba, who died at age five after spending years in the hospital, waiting for provincial and federal governments to decide who was responsible to pay for his home-care. Read more about Jordan’s Principle at Assembly of First Nations (afn.ca).

Calls 1,2, 4 and 5 address the following: reducing the number of Indigenous children in the system; affirming the right of Aboriginal governments to establish child welfare agencies; that all agencies and courts take into consideration the legacy of residential schools; that the care and placement of Indigenous children be culturally appropriate; the publishing of annual reports comparing the number and reasons of Indigenous children in care with non-Indigenous people; the enacting of legislation to create national standards for Indigenous child apprehension and custody cases; and the creation of culturally appropriate parenting programs for Indigenous families.

Joyce Jonathan Crone is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter. She is Mohawk, born on the Six Nations Reserve. A retired teacher, she now makes Huntsville her home.

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Joyce Jonathan Crone, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Parry Sound North Star