Reconciliation In Stephen Harper's Apology

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A decade later in June 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an “Official Statement of Apology” to the House of Commons on behalf of “the government of Canada and all Canadians”. The language of reconciliation was featured far more prominently in his speech than in that of Stewart that preceded it or the Royal Commission. In many ways, Harper’s apology “inaugurated” reconciliation as a central principle of future Indigenous policy of the Canadian state. Both the Prime Minister’s apology and use of the term reconciliation were framed as a narrative of historical progress that confined the abuses of Indigenous peoples to the distant past. He sought in his speech to describe the Residential School system as a “sad chapter” of Canadian history isolated from a larger and continuing colonial project. Harper conceded that the principal objective of Residential Schools was to “remove and isolate children” from their communities to “assimilate them into the dominant culture”. He then continued to provide a limited …show more content…

Approximately one quarter of Canadians believe that they have no personal responsibility in the reconciliatory process, and only 11 percent see their accepting blame for Residential School abuses is essential for reconciliation. This, of course, is problematic and reflective of widespread public ignorance of the detrimental impact of colonialism that continues to have on Indigenous populations. This ignorance is a serious hindrance to meaningful reconciliation as it facilitates the assuaging of Settler guilt and reinforcement of Canada’s peace-maker

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