This December is the tenth anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) final report being accepted by the Government of Canada. This is a significant milestone as the report documented the enduring harms caused by residential schools—harms that we continue to confront to this day. At CPSBC, we are marking this important anniversary by evaluating our cultural safety and humility journey through the lens of the past, present and future.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in 2007 and led by Chief Commissioner Murray Sinclair, who was the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba and a Canadian Senator. The TRC’s six-part final report includes 94 calls to action to address the legacy of residential schools and promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Among them are seven calls to action focused on health, which intersect with much of CPSBC’s cultural safety and humility work. However, before we begin focusing on our present and future through those calls to action, I believe we must first acknowledge our past.
Acknowledging the past
Over the summer, our records and archives team spent time searching our historical records to see what role CPSBC played in the colonial system that caused Indigenous people so much harm. Their findings reflected various attitudes over the decades, and suggested CPSBC councils knew about the inferior care, discrimination and harm towards Indigenous people. For generations, we were complicit. It was not until 2017 that we began to take action by signing the Declaration of Commitment to Cultural Safety and Humility, along with other health regulators, the Ministry of Health, and the First Nations Health Authority.
Taking action in the present
Since signing the declaration, CPSBC has taken steps to help improve the health of Indigenous people. This has included developing a practice standard requiring registrants to provide culturally safe care and embedding Indigenous voices into our decision-making. Since much of our ongoing cultural safety and humility work intersects with the TRC report’s seven health related calls to action, we decided to evaluate the progress we have made to address these recommendations. We have published a progress report on how we are meeting these calls to action, which we will use to hold ourselves accountable going forward.
Building for the future
We will continue to address past harms to Indigenous people and build for the future. This is a commitment we are reaffirming through this video about our truth and reconciliation journey, which I encourage you all to watch.
Stopping racism against Indigenous people in BC’s health-care system is generational work and there is much more we must do.
Patrick Rowe, MD, CCFP (EM), FCFP
Registrar and CEO
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