TRC FINAL REPORT

Here are some of the recommendations unveiled Tuesday:

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR RECONCILIATION

Although appointed by the federal government, it would be independent. Composed of aboriginals and non-aboriginals, it would report annually to Parliament and oversee Canada’s “post-apology progress on reconciliation.”

CHILD WELFARE

Federal and provincial governments should commit to reduce the number of aboriginal children in child welfare.

EDUCATION

The federal government should repeal a section of the Criminal Code that allows teachers to use corporal punishment on students, and should eliminate the “funding gap” that discriminates against aboriginal children on reserves.

LANGUAGE/CULTURE

The federal government should enact an Aboriginal Languages Act to help revitalize and preserve aboriginal languages. Residential school survivors and their families should be enabled to reclaim their names — changed by the residential school system — by waiving the administrative costs for five years associated with documents such as birth certificates, passports and driver’s licences.

HEALTH

Governments should acknowledge that the current state of aboriginal health care is a direct result of previous Canadian government policies, including residential schools. The federal government should set goals to improve aboriginal health, and also provide funding for aboriginal health centres to address the physical and emotional harms caused by residential schools.

All levels of government should increase the number of aboriginal health-care professionals.

JUSTICE

The RCMP should have clear independence to investigate crimes in which the government has an interest as a potential or real client in a lawsuit. Governments should also review their statutes of limitation so they do not rely on these to defend legal actions of historical abuse.

Governments should commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of aboriginal people in custody over the next decade.

PUBLIC SERVANTS

Education should be provided to public servants on the history of aboriginal peoples, including the legacy of residential schools.

CHURCHES

The commission urges the Pope to issue an apology similar to the one issued in 2010 to Irish victims of abuse.

BURIALS

Governments should work together to get records on students who died and where they are buried. Families should be given information on where their loved ones were buried.

OATH OF CITIZENSHIP

The federal government should amend the Oath of Citizenship for new citizens so new citizens would pledge to “observe the laws of Canada including treaties with indigenous peoples.”

COMMEMORATIONS

The federal government should also establish a statutory holiday to honour the survivors. And it should build a “publicly accessible, highly visible” Residential Schools National Monument in Ottawa.