“Since I'm a relatively recent immigrant, some people may have felt I … wasn't here, didn't know what was going on,” Rev. Cheol Soon Park, moderator of the last General Assembly, says of his experience at the Truth and Reconciliation: Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools conference held in Edmonton in January. “But I feel this … is about the dignity of humankind and the dignity of living. It's about conscience and the next generation – our children and children's children. In that sense, it is my … history, and I was there and will be there and will learn with the aboriginal people.”
Korean-born Park spoke at the conference of Korea's experience under Japanese rule a century ago as a way of understanding the imperialist experiences of aboriginals in Canada.
Amid sacred smoke and ceremony, residential school survivors, aboriginal and church leaders, academics and government officials told their stories and continued the journey toward healing.
The conference drew about 400 students and 200 members of aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities. Park attended as the Presbyterian church's representative, and was one of four denominational leaders. Roy Berkenbosch, director of interdisciplinary studies at King's, describes an evening ceremony as powerful and pivotal. “It made the event not just about reconciliation, but a place where reconciliation could take place,” he says.
Later in January, commissioners Claudette Dumont-Smith and Jane Morley announced they would resign from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission effective June 1.
“This is good news,” says Lori Ransom, the Presbyterian Church's truth and reconciliation animator. “It's a step forward.”
Justice Harry LaForme resigned as chair the commission last October, citing conflicts in leadership and vision amongst himself and his colleagues.
A selection committee is seeking to fill the commission positions.
