Earlier this summer, the Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada and United Church of Canada together donated $1.5 million to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), each contributing $500,000, in support of a new permanent home in Winnipeg.
The gift was presented at a ceremony on June 18 at the University of Manitoba, current home of the NCTR. Amanda Wallin, an Anglican elder to the bishop of Rupert’s Land and a residential school survivor, represented the Anglican Church of Canada at the ceremony alongside General Secretary Andrea Mann.
The Anglican Church’s contribution will be paid over five years, starting this September. The gift reflects the church’s ongoing commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, particularly Call to Action 48, which calls on churches to adopt and comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation.
The NCTR’s new building, on land donated by the University of Manitoba, is expected to cost $100 million. Once complete, the NCTR says it will serve as a research centre, a healing space for survivors and families, and a place of ongoing learning. The federal government has contributed $60 million, and the NCTR is raising the remaining $40 million.