Hub Podcasts Reconciliation requires looking back to move forward
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Sep 30, 2025 Karen Restoule, a senior advisor on Indigenous affairs and director at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, delves into the crucial historical context of reconciliation. She emphasizes revisiting the 1764 Treaty of Niagara, advocating for a return to the original promises of coexistence and mutual respect. Restoule argues that true progress requires action beyond mere apologies, urging for restored partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The discussion also briefly touches on the financial challenges facing Canada's women's rugby team.
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Niagara Treaty Vision
- The 1764 Treaty of Niagara envisioned coexistence, mutual respect, and non-interference between Indigenous nations and the Crown.
- That diplomatic covenant set a foundation for a shared home that differs sharply from later colonial policy.
Promise Replaced By Control
- The Treaty of Niagara promised coexistence but Canada later adopted policies of control and assimilation instead of partnership.
- Laws like the Indian Act and residential school mandates reversed that original covenant and centralized power in Ottawa.
Residential Schools' Human Cost
- In 1883 officials were empowered to remove children and later made attendance at residential schools mandatory.
- The system fractured families, nearly erased languages, and left survivors with lifelong wounds.
