Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action turns 10: What progress has UCalgary made?

Ten years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) brought 94 Calls to Action to the Canadian government. 

These came as a response to horrific acts that took place in the country’s residential school system. 

They identified actions all Canadians, governments and institutions need to take to help create awareness and advance reconciliation and truth telling. 

The next year, the University of Calgary began work on ii' taa'poh'to'p, its Indigenous Strategy, which was completed in November 2017. 

The Strategy communicated the university’s commitment to, and responsibility for, Truth and Reconciliation and has guided its transformation and renewal ever since.

“The 94 Calls to Action are more than directions for change; they are invitations to renew our relationships, our knowledge and our shared purpose,” says Dr. Michael Hart, UCalgary’s vice-provost (Indigenous Engagement). 

“Through ii’ taa’poh’to’p, we’ve begun this work at UCalgary, walking side by side as Indigenous and settler communities to listen, learn and transform together.”

UCalgary and the Calls to Action

Since the inception of ii’ taa’poh’to’p, there has been strong and ongoing support by university leadership and members throughout the university. UCalgary has made significant strides in implementing the Indigenous Strategy while recognizing much work is still needed.

Yearly, ii' taa'poh'to'p presents a report through its Journey Update event, which highlights the many actions and achievements the strategy has made over the previous year. 

This year will be the strategy’s eighth report. 

Over the strategy’s time in effect, teams implementing it have created more spaces for education, increased the campus’ intercultural capacity, and incorporated Indigenous ways and practices into the landscape. 

Most significantly, the number of Indigenous students, staff and faculty members has increased along with elevated voices, expertise and contributions.

One of many ways the strategy continues to advance these developments and contributions is through advisory and working circles with Elders and university members. 

The Strategy has several advisory circles and seven working circles, which help to implement Truth and Reconciliation across UCalgary, from how it develops buildings to academic programs.

There is a deep focus on walking parallel paths, striving towards shared goals. By walking side by side as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and settler people, support continues for implementing Indigenous practices in the everyday operation of the university.

Education is a strong focus of ii' taa'poh'to'p. 

All UCalgary employees are strongly encouraged to take the e-learning courses, The Story of ii' taa'poh'to'p and Beginning the Journey Towards Reconciliation to help them become more aware of Indigenous cultures. 

Additional learning opportunities have been developed to increase community members’ intercultural capacity, such as the Elders’ Wisdom Series and the Traditional Knowledge Teaching Series hosted by ii' taa'poh'to'p, which invites First Nations, Inuit and Métis Elders and Knowledge Keepers to share valuable cultural wisdom, teachings and world views. 

Says Hart: “ii’ taa’poh’to’p creates spaces where Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being guide how we teach, research and live together. It reminds us that reconciliation grows from our daily actions, our collective will and our shared hope for the future.”  

Empowerment from the Circle

In further support of the TRC and ii' taa'poh'to'p, the annual Journey Update progress report event highlights and celebrates recent actions and achievements of the strategy. 

The eighth update takes place on Nov. 26 at MacEwan Hall. This year’s theme is Empowerment from the Circle.

The keynote speaker at the Journey Update will be Dr. Niigaanwewidam (Niigaan) Sinclair, PhD, a renowned Indigenous scholar and son of the late Hon. Justice Murray Sinclair, Hon. LLD’17, chair of the TRC Commission. Dr. Sinclair will speak on 10 years of the TRC. 

UCalgary President Ed McCauley will continue to model the university’s ongoing commitment to learning and walking parallel paths by hosting a Q-and-A with Sinclair afterwards.

Sinclair is Anishinaabe from Peguis First Nation. 

He is an award-winning writer, editor and professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba. In 2022, he was named by Maclean’s magazine as one of the most influential people in Canada. 

A multiple nominee for Canadian Columnist of the Year honours (winning in 2018), he appears weekly across Canada, from the Winnipeg Free Press to programs on CBC and APTN, and co-hosts the podcast Niigaan and the Lone Ranger. 

His bestselling first book, Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre (McClelland & Stewart, 2024), won the 2024 Governor General Award for Non-Fiction. He is a former secondary school teacher who won the 2019 Peace Educator of the Year from the Peace and Justice Studies Association at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

To learn more and register to attend the Journey Update event, visit the webpage.