Amid fanfare Monday leading up to this week’s royal visit, the Yukon government quietly dropped a major report representing its initial reaction to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC’s) 94 Calls to Action.

There was no news release alerting the public that the report is online. A brief, written statement from the premier was available only upon request.

Darrell Pasloski, who is also the minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs in the Yukon, did not make himself available to the Star for an interview on the government report – which has been in the works for nearly a year.

The report is titled Yukon Government’s Deputy Ministers’ Report to the Premier on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Report.

Dated Jan. 12, 2016, it is organized around 22 “themes” highlighted by the TRC, from child welfare, to language and culture, to missing children and unmarked graves.

It lays out a “narrative summary of some of the work underway or completed” by the Yukon government to address the 94 recommendations that followed the TRC’s extensive inquiry into the residential school system and its dark legacy.

“We are proud of what has been accomplished to date, but recognize there is much more to be done,” Pasloski said in his statement on the deputy ministers’ report.

“We look forward to identifying next steps in collaboration with First Nations.”

The document was prepared by deputy ministers, on a directive from the premier, and was intended as an internal report to inform future work that will be done in collaboration with Yukon First Nations, said Sharri-Lynn MacLellan, a spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs in the Yukon government.

Sherri Wright, assistant deputy minister of Health and Social Services, said the government was waiting to get the green light from First Nations to release the report, which they got “recently.”

The report does not identify specific areas where work is still needed to improve health, social and economic outcomes for people in the Yukon touched by Canada’s long history of unjust treatment of Indigenous peoples.

But that’s not what this report was for, said MacLellan.

“It’s more about what has been done so far. The work that is needed will be identified with First Nations.”

This report is not the government’s ultimate response to the TRC calls to Action, said Wright.

“This is a report prepared by all the deputies of the various departments on what’s been done already in terms of the TRC Calls to Action, and what’s left to do.”

“It’s a starting point for our conversations with First Nations,” she said.

Wright said the report was shared with all the First Nations chiefs in the Yukon, and the Council of Yukon First Nations Grand Chief Peter Johnston, last January.

“The implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action are very important to Yukon First Nations people,” Johnston said in an email Tuesday.

“We look forward to working collaboratively with Yukon Government and the Government of Canada. This is an opportunity to look at the social determinants of health of First Nations and to build a healthier people.”

Wright said she had not heard feedback on the report from the chiefs.

The TRC launched in 2008 with a mandate to “inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential Schools,” and to set in motion a process of national reconciliation.

It released an executive summary in June 2015, and its 10-volume final report in December of last year.

Most significantly, the commissioners found that through policies of assimilation, of which residential schools were a part, Canada committed “cultural genocide” against the first peoples on this land.

“States that engage in cultural genocide set out to destroy the political and social institutions of the targeted group. Land is seized, and populations are forcibly transferred and their movement is restricted.

Languages are banned. Spiritual leaders are persecuted, spiritual practices are forbidden ...

“And, most significantly to the issue at hand, families are disrupted to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next,” reads the introduction to the TRC report’s executive summary.

“In its dealing with aboriginal people, Canada did all these things.”

This process of reconciliation involves internalizing some of the most troubling aspects of Canadian history: the destruction of indigenous culture, abuse against children in church- and state-run schools, and the impacts of that abuse on families and communities through generations.  

The TRC report presents 94 actions governments, institutions, non-indigenous and indigenous people can take to redress harms caused by the brutal residential school system, and build relationships based on “mutual understanding and respect.”

The TRC Calls to Action relate to issues in child welfare, health, treaty relationships, justice, education, and other areas.

Of the 94 Calls to Action, the Yukon deputy ministers’ report notes 32 that are aimed directly at provincial and territorial governments.

The Yukon report does not, however, provide data that show the effectiveness, or costs, of these initiatives.

Indeed, funding for the implementation of the TRC’s recommendations in the Yukon is a question that remains to be answered.

In his statement, Pasloski said, “Yukon First Nation leaders and I have agreed that any Yukon response to the calls to action should be led by First Nations and their communities.”

Yukon First Nations have asked Ottawa for funding to help implement the TRC Calls to Action in the Yukon, but as far as Wright knows, they have yet to receive word on that funding.

The deputy ministers’ report presents “Key Work Done to Date” in the Yukon. That is, government initiatives that are “part of ongoing operations that are responsive to the 22 themes set out in the TRC report.”

In some cases, the “key work” mentioned is unrelated to the TRC, or it is work that was done outside of the Yukon government.

In the Justice section for instance, the report cites this as an example of “key work done” to provide alternatives to jail time in the territory:

“Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the last third of a young offender’s sentence is served in the community.”

The Youth Criminal Justice Act is the Canadian law that governs how youth are treated in the justice system.

It came into force in 2003 and applies to all youth, everywhere in Canada.

Under Commemoration, the government notes the 82nd Call to Action, which recommends provincial and territorial governments collaborate with survivors on a “publicaly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools Monument” for installation in each capital city.

Here, the report points to the healing totem in Whitehorse, an 11-metre carving that stands facing the Yukon River, across from Horwood’s Mall.

The healing totem pole was erected by the Northern Cultural Expressions Society with a $50,000 grant from the TRC.

“Although the Yukon government did not commission this work, it is located on Yukon government land,” reads the report.

“The intention is for Yukon government to assume maintenance responsibilities for the pole.”

The report highlights many positive changes that have been made in the last decade to improve outcomes for indigenous peoples, and Yukoners overall.

In the Child Welfare section for example, the report says that under the Yukon’s Child and Family Services Act, each child in care has a custom plan for sustaining his or her culture.

The act also calls for First Nations involvement in making plans for First Nations children who are removed from their homes.

The deputy ministers’ report also notes updates to the Yukon education system in recent years, resulting in First Nations cultural awareness, languages, and the history of residential schools are taught in grade schools.

These are just some of the first steps the government has taken on its long journey toward reconciliation, suggests the report.

Ultimately, as the TRC points out, reconciliation will not result from government programs or strategies alone.

“Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation,” says the commission.

“We must learn how to practise reconciliation in our everyday lives.”