At a Montreal barbecue, Indigenous people say there’s more truth now, but much more left to reconcile

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The grand house on Laval Avenue seems like the perfect community hub. Just ask Ellen Filippelli, director of the First Nation Justice Centre, who uses the building to serve local Indigenous people.

“We’d love to own it,” she says with a wry smile. “But we can’t buy it. We’re still just renting.”

On Thursday, the house provided the backdrop for the Justice Centre’s Harvest BBQ, which drew dozens of attendees — mostly Indigenous — ahead of next week’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Filippelli struck an optimistic note.

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“Our events are growing, the message is spreading, and the truth — the truth — is finally being accepted,” said Filippelli, who was raised on the Kanesatake Mohawk Territory and is a proud Kanien’kehá (Mohawk) and Italian woman from the Wolf Clan.

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But beneath her optimism, Filippelli conveyed a sense of frustration over the lack of meaningful progress on Indigenous self-governance.

“We’re still funded directly by the government because we’re a non-profit,” she explained. “But they tell us, ‘OK, this is for Indigenous people,’ and then they still decide what we’re allowed to do with that money.”

The historical wounds that shaped today persist. For more than a century, the Canadian government forcibly removed at least 150,000 Indigenous children from their families, placing them in residential schools designed to erase their culture. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 2015 report labelled these practices “cultural genocide,” documenting the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse these children endured.

One attendee, who did not wish to be named, shared how his grandfather had been one of the many children forced into the residential school system. “I’ve seen denial for most of my life,” he said quietly.

In response to these atrocities, the TRC issued 94 calls to action, from justice reform to Indigenous self-governance. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, established as a federal holiday in 2021, was meant to be part of the healing process. However, Quebec Premier François Legault chose not to recognize it as a provincial holiday. Across the country, many of those calls to action remain unfulfilled.

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Aaron Mills, an Anishinaabe scholar and assistant professor of law at McGill University, partly blamed the rise of populism dampening public and political will, but also pointed out to the need to address the deeper injustices.

“Canada’s national project of reconciliation is trying to make good on a historic wrong, but only so far. It’s not actually trying to undo the full harm, because that wouldn’t just be accountability for residential schools, that would be accountability for taking Indigenous land and jurisdiction, legal and political authority.”

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask that we would like to hear the justification for Canadian authority. It’s not that we’re saying there can’t be any, but Canada should be able to tell a story that explains where that authority comes from,” he added.

Filippelli, whose career spans public safety, the Mohawk Police, and a community health centre before leading the Justice Centre, appreciates the growing awareness but can’t ignore the glaring double standard in how Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities are treated.

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“So, we’re making people aware of the graves, but now what?” she asked. “Where are the charges? Where’s the accountability?”

“If this had happened to a non-Indigenous community, they’d be moving mountains to bring those responsible to justice,” she added.

As Thursday’s event wound down, an Indigenous elder led the closing ceremony, drawing in the crowd with drumming and standing at the top of the house’s stairs. No phone recording was permitted. Attendees lingered over from across the street, some still eating from the barbecue.

Filippelli remained hopeful about the upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Day, and she and her team plan to participate, proudly wearing their orange shirts to remember the children who never returned from residential schools.

“That’s an experience everyone needs to go through — both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people,” she said. “Some of our people feel ashamed of being Indigenous because they don’t speak the language or understand the full history of what happened.

“But you know what?” she added. “They’re not the only ones in that position.”

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She also remained hopeful about buying the building — through other fundraising, for now.

hnorth@postmedia.com

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation events

• A Day to Listen: Special programming on radio stations across Canada, Monday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• We Will Walk Together: Monday, 10–11:30 a.m. at McGill University’s Education Building, 3700 McTavish St. Includes “Critical Campus Tour.”
• Every Child Matters March: Monday, 1–4 p.m. at the monument to Sir George-Étienne Cartier on Parc Ave. Participants are encouraged to wear orange shirts.
• Remembering the Children broadcast: Gathering on Parliament Hill, broadcast on APTN, CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV2 and CPAC at 3 p.m. Monday
• McGill Redbirds vs. Carleton lacrosse legacy game: Monday, 7:30 p.m. at Percival Molson Stadium. Tickets are $15.

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