Governor General David Johnston and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are at Rideau Hall Wednesday afternoon as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission comes to its ceremonial close.
CBCNews.ca is carrying the final events live.
A packed formal event is underway inside Rideau Hall involving the Governor General, prime minister, the three commissioners and residential school survivors. Harper is not expected to speak during Wednesday’s event.
Other dignitaries, clergy and political party members, including Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, are also in attendance.
Governor General David Johnston, who served as an honourary witness to the commission, spoke to guests. He called the closing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission an opportunity – with education as the only way forward.
“A moment like this arises very rarely in a country’s history. This is a moment for national reflection and introspection. This is a moment to reflect upon our history, our relationships and our responsibilities towards each other, ” he said Wednesday.
“To think about the depth of our commitment to tolerance, respect and inclusiveness and whether we can do better. We can and we must.”
Guests are seated in two large semi-circles, facing each other. Two seats remain empty in the front row, to symbolize children who died in residential schools.
The commission has hosted events over the past four days centred on the release of Tuesday’s landmark residential schools report — the work of six years and more than 6,000 interviews with witnesses.
It made 94 recommendations, including drafting new and revised legislation for education, child welfare and aboriginal languages and the implementation of the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Hundreds of kids from the Ottawa area join residential school survivors to plant a heart garden at Rideau Hall Wednesday, as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s closing cermonies. (Hillary Johnstone/CBC)
Outside Rideau Hall, children from around Ottawa are planting a heart garden, meant to symbolize the start of a reconciliation process. Each of the hearts include messages of reconciliation.
Speaking after his caucus meeting Wednesday, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair called for a creation of a respectful “nation-to-nation relationship” in the wake of the report.
“I think it is incumbent on all members of parliament from all parties to work together to start finding answers to the questions that have been asked,” he told reporters.
RAW: Mulcair: 1st step is to create “nation to nation relationship”2:37
Will action follow words?
Harper met with the commissioners at a closed door meeting on Tuesday. In a written statement released after the meeting, Justice Murray Sinclair, the commission’s chair, said he was worried the government would not act on some of the report’s recommendations.
“He was open to listening to some of our concerns and inquired about some of our recommendations,” he said.
“I remain concerned with the government’s resistance to the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
The report said the government’s implementation of the declaration would be a “framework for reconciliation.”
In Tuesday’s question period, Harper said he would not yet commit to any of the report’s recommendations.
