'The responsibility is real': Council receives White Goose Flying report update at yearly Indigenous reconciliation-themed meeting

Ten years have passed since the City of Calgary vowed to take more concerted steps toward Truth and Reconciliation with the city’s Indigenous communities.

And while there has been some notable progress since then, city councillors heard Monday that there’s still a long way to go.

On Monday, Calgary city council held its third annual Indigenous-focused meeting , which takes place every September in the lead-up to National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.

The yearly gathering is intentionally different than the usual governance process by which council conducts its meetings.

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“Today offers an important opportunity to recognize the commitment, progress and achievements reached together,” said Lorelai Higgins, the city’s team lead for the Indigenous Relations Office.

“It reflects the steps taken to strengthen meaningful relationships with Indigenous peoples and support the shared vision of leading together a stronger and more inclusive future.”

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that Truth and Reconciliation has no finish line, and the city’s efforts to repair and strengthen relations with Calgary and area Indigenous groups will continue in perpetuity.

“Certainly here locally, we’re able to make positive change and to be able to address those injustices of history a lot quicker than some of the bigger orders of government are, but make no mistake, this is a journey that’s never going to come to an end, and that’s the point,” he told reporters during a break in the meeting.

“We have to work together toward a common cause, see each other as neighbours, and ultimately deliver on a community where absolutely everybody is safe and welcome. We can’t ever fix our history, but we can address those injustices so that Calgarians, especially kids, don’t have to experience the tragedies and horrors and trauma of yesterday.”

This year marks the 10-year anniversary since the city received the White Goose Flying report in 2016, which outlined how the city should undertake 43 of the calls to action within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report from the year before.

The city report, which was published by the Calgary Aboriginal Urban Advisory Committee, was named in the memory of Jack White Goose Flying, who died while attending the former St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School on land that is now within southeast Calgary. His remains were discovered there in 1956, according to the city’s website.

“I think what really puts it into perspective for me is that the horrors and trauma of residential schools happened within our lifetimes,” Farkas said. “It happened when I was a kid going through school in a different system, and that is not something I realized until I was much older.