An aboriginal and church leaders' tour is scheduled for March 1-10, and will give participants a chance to visit community programs, and meet with media, local government, church and first nations representatives along the way.
“I hope we'll get a deeper appreciation of the schools and really understand why they left a legacy that continues to have an impact on the aboriginal community today,” said Lori Ransom, the Presbyterian Church's healing and reconciliation animator.
Rev. Dr. Hans Kouwenberg, Moderator of the 2007 General Assembly, along with Ransom, will represent the PCC on the tour which will stop in Ottawa, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Full details are not yet finalized, but information on how Presbyterians can get involved will be distributed to local congregations through their presbyteries. They can also visit www.rememberingthechildren.ca to follow the tour as it travels. The national website – www.presbyterian.ca – will also carry updates.
March 3rd is the official launch of the tour in Ottawa and will be hosted by the United Church (each of the four denominations will take the lead in one location). The Presbyterians will lead in Winnipeg, where they hope to take the tour to Anishinabe and Flora House – the church's aboriginal outreach centres.
Anglican and Catholic representatives will also take part, along with the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. The tour is in preparation for the federal government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a five-year endeavour that will provide former residential school students with an opportunity to share their individual experiences. The commission is supposed to be launched this year, though the federal government has not yet released a date.
“I'm really excited about the potential for this tour to draw attention to the commission,” said Ransom. “This is really the first time a major G8 country has actually looked at its colonial past and reflected as a nation on what the consequences were of that past and how we can reconcile and overcome those consequences. I'm sure we'll all learn things we didn't know before.” AM
