June 12, 2008

TORONTO, Canada – Calling yesterday's historic public apology to former students of aboriginal residential schools by the Canadian government, "a communicative act of the highest order," the World Association for Christian Communication looks forward to the country's leaders now acting on that apology.

While congratulating the government, a formal reaction to the apology issued by the organization says it would be "naive and wrong" to believe that merely apologizing and establishing forms of retributive or restorative justice might be sufficient. "Communicative acts are long-term processes that begin with genuine communication and continue long into the future ," the response says. "It is a long road, but the first step has been taken."

The organization's General Secretary, Randy Naylor, emphasizes that, "Saying sorry opens the door to a process of reconciliation that intends to heal a broken relationship. How long that healing takes depends on the depth of the injury, the sincerity of the apology, and the actions that follow."

Full statement
Canada's apology: A powerful act of communication
Toronto, Canada, 12 June 2008

Saying sorry is an act of communication that resonates with the history of the 20th, and now the 21st, century. It is not often done and it is often too little, too late. Saying sorry opens the door to a process of reconciliation that intends to heal a broken relationship. How long that healing takes depends on the depth of the injury, the sincerity of the apology, and the actions that follow. It demands that the causes and responsibilities of the injury be established and it requires truth-telling that is both painful and cathartic.

The offer of reconciliation cannot come from the perpetrators of the injury, only from those whose dignity and integrity have been harmed. Reconciliation can, and probably will, be offered when trust has been re-established. Communication becomes indispensable in that process of moving from conflict and confrontation to dialogue and understanding. In such circumstances, genuine communication is vulnerable: it places its trust in the good intentions of the other and affirms the other as an equal partner in the journey towards reconciliation.

Yesterday's historic public apology by the Canadian government to the First Nations – which many feel was long overdue – must rank as a communicative act of the highest order. Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. Describing it as a sad chapter in Canada's history, he said that ‘The government now recognises that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.'

Some 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities between 1840 until as late as the 1980s, and forced to attend one of the country's 130 residential schools. Overseen by the Department of Indian Affairs, the schools made aboriginal children learn English and adopt Christianity and Western customs as part of a policy called ‘aggressive assimilation.'

The United Church of Canada formally apologised to the First Nations people in 1986, followed by the Missionary Oblates of Marry Immaculate (1991), the Anglican Church (1993) and the Presbyterian Church (1994). On 1st June 2008 a Truth and Reconciliation Commission formally began its task of trying to understand how people were affected by the residential school experience and hearing testimonies and stories. The Commission will create a historical account of the residential schools, help people to heal, and encourage reconciliation between aboriginals and non-aboriginal Canadians. The TRC has a budget of C$60 million and will complete its work within five years.

It would be naive and wrong to believe that merely apologizing and establishing forms of retributive or restorative justice might be sufficient in themselves. Communicative acts are long-term processes that begin with genuine communication and continue long into the future with concrete actions that – eventually, hopefully – lead to forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a long road, but the first step has been taken.

Randy Naylor
WACC General Secretary

World Association for Christian Communication