"The Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod has requested bishops and deans to focus, for 22 days, from May 31 to June 21 [2017], on renewing the church's commitment to support the work of the Anglican Fund for Healing and Reconciliation through prayers, participation in awareness-raising campaigns and donations. Early this year [2017], Council of General Synod (CoGS) agreed to dedicate the undesignated proceeds of Giving with Grace, General Synod's annual fundraising campaign, to replenish the fund. For the next five years, the fund -- created in 1992 as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement -- will focus on language recovery". General Secretary, Archdeacon Michael Thompson, "stressed that while the Anglican Church of Canada has met its legal obligations under the settlement agreement, 'we're far from finished with our spiritual and moral obligation to continue to support the healing work that is underway among those survivors and in those communities'."
"Anglicans across Canada are being called to demonstrate -- in the 22 days following the closing event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- that this ending is only the beginning of healing and reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous people. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald have issued a call to the whole church today to participate in #22days, a campaign that will stretch from the start of the closing of TRC event in Ottawa on May 31 [2015] to National Aboriginal Day on June 21 [2015]. 22days was first conceived of by a group of cathedral deans from cities in which a national TRC event was held and was 'heartily endorsed' by the House of Bishops" (p. 10). "The General Synod communications team has created a web page -- 22days.ca -- that will offer resources, including 22 videos featuring former residential school students and staff describing their experiences in the schools. The videos are not the typical 30-second sound bytes people are used to viewing on television, they are about 15 to 20 minutes each, in order to tell the stories in a more whole and sensitive way, said Anglican Video senior producer Lisa Barry. One video will be added daily to the website during the 22-day period and each will be accompanied by a prayer, written by various people in the church" (p. 11).
Editorial: The National Executive Council has said that the church must accept responsibility for the painful legacy of the residential schools among native peoples.
Bishop John Hannen spoke at the first National Conference on Residential Schools held in Vancouver June 1991.
"Bishop Sue Moxley, of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, said her life changed in 1993 after listening to former residential school students talk about their experiences. It was then, said Bishop Moxley, that she realized 'The church I loved as this great big black blotch on its history'. In another forum, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, offered an apology to students 'for the years of lost love' and for 'the aggressive efforts to remake you in our image'. 'I am sorry for the bruising of your bodies, the crushing of your spirits and the violation of your innocence', said Archbishop Hiltz. "I am deeply sorry for the terrible pain we inflicted, and for the terrible memories that many of you still carry today. I, and my church, must listen to your stories, your hurt, the humiliation and the burden of our sins on your lives'. The Anglican church first offered its apology to students in 1993". [Text of entire article.]
The Anglican Church of Canada's troubles dealing with the residential school legacy were aired at the Anglican Consultative Council in Dundee. From Anglican Communion News Service.
As of January 30, 2003 18 dioceses had ratified the agreement. Describes the efforts of Archbishop Peers and Archdeacon Boyles to explain the agreement and the materials available. Page 3 has a chart of each diocese's situation.
The October 2003 meeting in Winnipeg between ACIP [Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples] and non-native church members produced a plan of action that calls for the establishment of an eight-member commission to consider how native Anglicans can achieve "self-sufficiency" and "indigenous governance" and an indigenous bishop.