Truth and Reconciliation: Richmond students petition for residential school monument in B.C.

A class of Grade 12 students from Richmond is petitioning for a residential school monument to be installed in Victoria as a step towards reconciliation in Canada.

The Social Justice 12 class at Hugh Boyd secondary started a petition urging the B.C. government to commission and install the monument as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 82 out of 94 Calls to Action.

Michael Taylor, the Social Justice 12 teacher at Hugh Boyd, told the Richmond News his class began familiarizing themselves with the impact of colonization, and the Indian Residential School system in Canada.

The students then explored how the modern Indigenous movement in Canada and the hard-fought legal battles led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, resulting in the 94 Calls to Action.

"As a class, we reflected on the purpose of the calls, which we understood as actionable policy recommendations aimed at improving the lives of Indigenous Peoples in Canada," said Taylor.

Instead of just reading and developing a broad understanding of the 94 Calls to Action, Taylor's students decided to take action.

They were surprised an action that was "relatively straightforward" such as the 82nd Call to Action had not begun by the B.C. Government.

Currently, only Whitehorse and Winnipeg have installed a monument, whereas the B.C. government has not announced or initiated any such plans.

"Our class views the creation of a monument in our provincial capital as an important symbolic step," Taylor explained.

"The students recognize the symbolic significance that comes from having a monument in a provincial capital, and they believe it pays an important tribute to survivors and their descendants and reminds all British Columbians about the truth of what happened, that 18 residential schools operated in B.C."

Because the federal government has made plans to install a monument in Ottawa, his students think B.C. should do the same in Victoria, he added.

Duncan Gillanders, a Grade 12 student at Hugh Boyd,  said he and his classmates wanted to brainstorm methods on how to convince the provincial government to take steps towards reconciliation and decided on starting a petition.

"Petitions have a long history of success in Canada, and we decided to dedicate our efforts towards making a petition on change.org," said Gillanders.

"The goal of the petition is to have a highly visible monument installed in Victoria dedicated to residential school survivors… It feels great to be able to do my part in reconciliation and I look forward to seeing the results.”

Another Grade 12 student Elias Feder said this step was created after the class learned of the "traumatic and inhumane" experiences Indigenous people underwent in residential schools.

"While we cannot change the past, but we can recognize the impacts of residential schools and move together towards reconciliation," said Feder.

"While the petition may not end in the result that I hope for, it feels gratifying to do my part to acknowledge the impact our country had on Indigenous peoples.”

As a teacher, Taylor told the News seeing his students engaged on important issues such as truth and reconciliation is rewarding.

"Students in B.C. are beginning to truly recognize the importance of Truth and Reconciliation, particularly as they complete new graduation required Indigenous-content courses, and as we, as educators, put this topic at the forefront of our practice, particularly in the lead-up to days like (National Day of Truth and Reconciliation)," he said.

"It is very meaningful to see their level of engagement on the topic, which has only increased in recent years."

Hugh Boyd's Social Justice 12 class plans to submit the petition to the B.C. legislative assembly once they garner 1,000 signatures.

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