Small Ontario town vows to hold itself accountable for upholding TRC's Calls to Action

Politicians in a small southwestern Ontario town have promised to keep track of the work being done locally toward reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous people. 

The mayor and council of Ingersoll, Ont., have agreed to review their progress every year on upholding the 94 Calls to Action recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The annual report will be released publicly, with the aim of holding the council accountable for where it might be failing to make headway. 

"Ingersoll wants to be on a path of truth and reconciliation, but we want to do it in a very meaningful, respectful way with our Indigenous partners," said Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie. 

In the spring, Patricia Marshal, director and founder of the Indigenous Solidarity and Awareness Network for Oxford County (ISAN), suggested the move at an Ingersoll council meeting. Her group offers education on issues disproportionately affecting Indigenous people living in the area. 

The annual reports will be an effective way of creating transparency between Ingersoll's council and the public, she said.

"I think it motivates them to feel a need [to uphold the recommendations] because if they don't have any reason to hold themselves accountable in legislation [then] they're never going to make progress," said Marshal. 

Numbers 43, 47, 57, 75 and 77 of the 94 Calls of Action address municipalities. They include asking municipalities to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People as the framework for reconciliation, and to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius. 

Ingersoll is currently looking through its historical records for mentions of Indigenous peoples and local relating to the history and legacy of the residential school system, as per call to action 77, said Petrie. Relevant records will be provided to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Manitoba. 

"We recognize not everything was done in the past the way we would do it today, and so we want to be open and honest about things that would have happened in our town," he said. 

There will also be more training for staff and council members to help build meaningful relationships with the Indigenous community, he said. 

When the council receives its annual report, it will evaluate the pace of its progress and how resources can be put toward accomplishing its goals.

Petrie said he wasn't aware of any other municipality in the region that has passed a similar motion. 

In August, South Bruce County Mayor Garry Michi resigned after audio leaked of him speaking disparagingly of members of the Chippewas of the Nawash Unceded First Nation. 

"It's become apparent that maybe what we've been taught and told about our Indigenous partners is probably not the truth, and that we need to do a better job of educating ourselves and really taking a strong look at what we've been told and how we're going to move forward," Petrie said when asked for a comment on Michi's conduct.