More Resignations at the Canadian TRC
January 31, 2009
The two remaining Commissioners of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Janet Morley and Claudette Dumont-Smith, announced yesterday that they will be stepping down. This announcement follows the resignation of the former Chair of the Commission, Justice Harry LaForme who left the Commission in October.
According to the official joint statement put forward by Morley and Dumon-Smith, they believe that the Commission would benefit from a fresh start and can learn from these early difficulties it has faced. They also remind the public that “Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is not the first such process to have a troubled start. Challenges such as we have faced are not uncommon and have been experienced by many other, if not all, Truth and Reconciliation processes around the world. Rather than seeing what has happened in the initial stage of our Commission as a reason to doubt its long-term success, we believe it should be seen as an opportunity to learn from the difficulties encountered in order to build a stronger process for the future.” (The full statement can be found here.)
It’s unfortunate that the TRC has faced another setback. They had already postponed their first national event, which was to be held in Vancouver last week. Hopefully, this signals a fresh start that will allow the new commissioners, whoever they may be, to have the credibility and trust necessary to continue this process.
Read more about responses and future plans at “Remaining Two Commissioners Resign” on cbc.ca.
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