The following remarks were delivered by Archbishop and Primate Michael Peers at the 2003 signing of an agreement between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Government of Canada. The agreement addressed abuse claims related to Indian Residential Schools and set out a framework for compensation, while also committing the Church and government to ongoing consultation and support for healing and reconciliation.
Ten years ago, I offered an apology on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada for the consequences of our church’s participation in the Indian Residential Schools.
I promised then that the apology’s words would not be the end of the church’s response to those who were harmed by abuse and loss in the schools. Those who accepted the apology graciously trusted that I, and the church I lead and serve, would make good on that promise.
I could not have predicted what that promise would lead to in the life of the church, what journey we would be required to enter into, what landmarks we would pass through.
Today, we are at one of those landmarks, but the journey is not at an end. The Anglican Church of Canada and the Government of Canada have reached an agreement as to financial liability with respect to physical and sexual abuse in the schools. But to think that is the end of it would be folly. An agreement between the church and the government cannot by itself establish justice for aboriginal persons, communities and peoples. I find myself saying once again that there is more—much more—to come.
The agreement itself anticipates future consultation, even with respect to its own execution. For example, though this agreement ends our church’s participation in litigation, we retain a commitment to advocate for alternatives to litigation which will be genuinely accessible and user-friendly, providing both authentic procedures of validation and also the humane context for genuine telling of stories and sensitive listening.
The challenge of the immediate future is in the creation of processes that provide meaningful alternatives to the lengthy and costly procedures we have witnessed to this date. Without such accessibility, no one benefits—not genuine claimants who need an end to their role as victims, not government, whose relation with claimants needs to be characterized by processes other than exclusively legal ones, and not the church, whose membership includes many persons, families and communities affected by this part of our history, and many others committed to justice for indigenous Canadians.
In addition, while I recognize the reason for including a release against future litigation by individuals related to culture and language, I continue to hear the voices of indigenous peoples, reminding us that those losses are deep and painful. Discussions about the form and content of such a release will continue. And just as important, I repeat the commitment of the Anglican Church to a meaningful response in terms of programs that are developed in, for, by and with aboriginal communities.
For real healing and reconciliation to become possible, we need to see this moment as a landmark, not a destination We have striven to remain constant in our adherence to three principles with respect to these issues: first, healing and reconciliation among persons and communities affected by the residential schools, and between first nations and the dominant culture in Canada; second, the survival of the church’s structures for its participation in God’s mission; and third, an agreement with the government that would honour both of those two principles. I believe that we have an agreement that can do so. I am profoundly grateful to negotiators and other participants who have shaped this agreement and have made this moment possible. And I have been deeply moved by the principled, prompt and generous response of our dioceses and their leaders.
But in our consultations with indigenous peoples, it has become clear that there is serious work ahead of us if we are to find a way forward that is both just and practical.
In the ten years since my apology at Minaki Ontario, the journey has not been easy, for indigenous peoples, for the church, or for the government. This agreement does not automatically ensure that the next decade will be easier. It is a significant accomplishment that anticipates another decade (and more) of challenge, hard work, listening and imagination, as we work together—indigenous peoples, church, government, and the people of Canada—to find both a new vision of a Canada that is a safe home for all its citizens and also a new courage to make that vision real.
Since 1969, the relationship between the church and indigenous peoples has undergone significant and vital change and renewal. Today marks a moment in that renewal, neither a beginning nor an end, but, I pray, a faithful building on the work of the past three decades, and a commitment to continue that work.