TheIRG

With acknowledgement to Tanya Talaga. The Indigenous Reconciliation Group was honoured to support Anishnabe author Tanya Talaga who was selected for the 2018 Massey Lectures.  The CBC Massey Lectures is a partnership between CBC, House of Anasi Press and Massey College at the University of Toronto. This year\’s lectures are also created in collaboration with the Toronto […]

Recently in Canada and Scotland, there has been renewed debates about the presence of statues and plaques commemorating figures of history.  The statue of Cornwallis in Halifax, Macdonald in Victoria, Duncan Campbell Scott\’s memorial plaque in Ottawa, and the Henry Dundas statue in Edinburgh, Scotland. The debate is not whether the person being commemorated is

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission started to communicate and share the truths of the Indian Residential Schools in Canada, many were faced with new information, and the challenge to integrate that information into their worldview of what is Canada. We tend to have a positive worldview of the good in Canada, and the impact

As the leaves change colour and most people are stuffed with turkey, I am hopeful for coming winter months, the promise that a new year brings and the opportunity for renewal. But before we get there, we must cross the most contentious time of year – a time not of innocence, but where casual racism

Based on a speech given by Rose LeMay, at the public launch of the IRG. As many political and policy wonks did, I watched Barack Obama\’s televised speech in Montreal last month.  I thought about the timing of his speech just weeks ahead of Canada150, and I thanked the Grandfathers for Obama\’s leadership.  We need

Posted in the Two Cents Blog on April 7, 2017. It was a long winter for some, the snow and cold seemed to last forever. But spring is almost here. Perhaps this is how change happens. Perhaps this is how reconciliation might happen. Canada has been through a long dark winter – the history of