is apparent that the costs of document collection would far exceed the Commission's $60-million budget if the Commission were to assume Canada's document compilation obligations in respect of federal archives. This clearly was not contemplated by the parties, given the funding and timing limitations set out in the Settlement Agreement.
These issues have placed the Commission's ability to fulfill its mandate in jeopardy. They also threaten to undermine the National Research Centre that the parties have called on the Commission to establish. Having tried unsuccessfully to informally resolve these issues, the Commission has determined that it must seek judicial guidance. The Commission will be referring these matters to the supervising court for advice and guidance on how best to ensure timely compliance by all par ties with their document production obligations.
Recommendations
- The Commission recommends that the Government of Canada and the churches produce all their relevant records to the Commission as quickly as possible.
- The Commission recommends that Canada and the churches make a dramatic change in the way they address the funding and timeliness of document production and digitization.
- The Commission recommends that all agencies and organizations that are not parties to the Settlement Agreement, but have holdings relevant to the history and legacy of residential schools (such as provincial and university archives, libraries, museums, galleries, and Aboriginal organizations), contact the Commission and assist the Commission in receiving copies of all such relevant documents.
Research and Report Preparation
The Commission is undertaking research into both the history and legacy of the residential school system, and the concepts and practices of reconciliation as they relate to the Commission's mandate. In December 2009, the Commission hosted a gathering of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal scholars and practitioners with research expertise in various areas of relevance to the Commission's work. They provided advice on the development of the research agenda. The Commission has conducted research to produce a number of public education tools, including a brochure on the history of residential schools, a short history of the system and its legacy, slide shows focusing on schools in regions where National Events have taken place, posters that highlight the history of individual schools and key themes in the history of the system, and national and regional maps identifying the location of residential schools. Several internal research projects required for the Commission's final report are now underway, including one dealing with the experience of residential school staff. In August 2010, the Commission also invited external researchers to submit proposals for work in a number of key areas.
Missing Children and Unmarked Graves
In 2007 the Commission, at the request of Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Jim Prentice, undertook the Missing Children and Unmarked Graves Project. Large numbers of the Aboriginal children who were sent to residential schools never returned to their home communities because they ran away or died, or their fate is unaccounted for other wise. Often, their parents and families never were informed of their disappearance or death. These students have come to be referred to as the Missing Children. Their fate is the focus of a series of research projects being conducted by a team of Commission researchers. Additional funding to carry out this work has not been provided to the Commission.
Working with the signatories to the Settlement Agreement, the federal government, the churches, and Aboriginal organizations, the Missing Children research projects will produce as complete a list as possible of children who died at the schools and the cause of their deaths. It will document the fate of those children who never returned to their home communities, and locate school burial sites and cemeteries where it is likely that many of these children are buried.
A research strategy and plans for a series of projects have been developed, and the Commission has begun to implement this strategy. The research team is mindful that this research must be carried out in a way that is respectful of cultural and traditional practices in each part of the country.
A National Research Centre: Establishing a National Memory
The Commission is mandated to establish a National Research Centre that is accessible to former students, their families and communities, the general public, researchers, and educators.
To assist the Commission in developing plans for the National Research Centre, the Commission hosted an inter national forum in March 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The forum brought together representatives of truth and memory projects from sixteen countries, former students, academics, archivists, representatives of international, fed-
