Reconciliation demands action, not just words: City of Winnipeg

The work towards true reconciliation between Canadians and Indigenous peoples demands measurable action and progress, not just the “wink and wave” photo opportunities that too often come with declarations of commitment, says the City of Winnipeg Manager of Indigenous Relations.

Cecil Sveinson addressed the attendees at this year’s swearing-in ceremony for new signatories to the City of Winnipeg’s Indigenous Accord at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights November 27. The full day meeting included an opening pipe ceremony, keynote address by Dr. Marcia Anderson, University of Manitoba Vice-Dean of Indigenous Health, Social Justice and Anti-racism, and an address by Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The goal of the Accord is to inspire people, institutions, businesses, public and private entities to act on commitments made within the 94 Calls to Action, published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015, Sveinson noted.

“Act on your commitments,” he told the gathering. The MHCA, which took part in the day-long gathering, signed the Accord in 2019. Each year, each signatory is asked to submit a report card on the progress of their actions, according to the numbered calls relevant to them.

Mayor Gillingham noted that reconciliation requires the recognition of hard truths of Canada’s history of colonialism and racism, and the necessity of changing course when one sees they are on the wrong path.

“We are all treaty people,” Gillingham noted.

Anderson stressed that there can be no reconciliation until the work of undoing anti-Indigenous racism happens. That involves recognizing the privilege that has weighed in favour of non-Indigenous Canadians throughout their lives, she said.

Those privileges are visible and invisible, just as is the racism that continues to work against Indigenous people and reconciliation.