Questions raised over preserving sensitive Truth and Reconciliation testimony – University Affairs

October 7, 2015

Many survivors believed their confidential statements would be destroyed, not archived for posterity.

After years of collecting literally millions of documents and hearing the stories of thousands of aboriginal people who experienced abuse at residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is ready to archive this material, much of it brutal and heartbreaking, in the new National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba. Scheduled to open to the public this fall, it will serve as a rich repository and essential historical record of a haunting and tragic chapter of First Nations and Canadian history.

Controversy has arisen, however, over whether survivors’ testimony, given privately by those seeking compensation for the abuse they suffered, should be preserved. It came as a shock to many who told their stories – confidentially, they believed – to adjudicators behind closed doors that their words might be preserved for posterity.

Read More: http://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/questions-raised-over-preserving-sensitive-truth-and-reconciliation-testimony/