B.C. university's faculty of medicine apologizes for role in harms to Indigenous people, commits to change

Vancouver -

A faculty at the University of British Columbia is apologizing for its part in past and present harms to Indigenous people as a result of Canada's colonial history.

Senior members of the 113-year-old Vancouver-based school's faculty of medicine have issued a statement of apology.

"To seek and learn the truth is an imperative for all members and units of an academic institution. Certain truths learned, especially those about ourselves in relation to Canada's colonial history, can be very difficult to accept," the statement said.

"The University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine acknowledges that the Canadian Indian Residential School system was imposed by the Government of Canada as one of many policies of forced assimilation intended to effectively commit cultural genocide. This system, which lasted more than 100 years, brought great suffering and has had enduring direct and indirect detrimental impacts on individuals, families, communities and the generations that followed."

The faculty issued an 83-page document, titled, "Reckoning with the Truth, Working Together for a Better Future," which also acknowledged the impacts of the so-called Indian hospital system and welfare policies imposed on Indigenous peoples.

"It is not enough to accept these truths. As the university has done before us, we formally apologize to all those affected for the role the UBC Faculty of Medicine played in causing and perpetuating these systems and the resulting and persistent damages done by them.

"By having also remained silent and failing to speak out… we, as a faculty, were complicit in the policies, practices and structures designed to oppress Indigenous peoples and eradicate Indigenous cultures in this country."

The faculty wrote that this role includes direct or indirect involvement in the implementation of colonial policies, and "participation in other unethical practices."

The document is its response to calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – calls with the aim to facilitate reconciliation by acknowledging the lasting impact of the country's Indian residential school system.

"Racial bias continues to drive the unfair treatment of Indigenous people in Canada," the faculty wrote, in part, saying it is "regrettably not immune" to the negative stereotypes and racist attitudes that lead to marginalization.

The faculty pledged Friday to seek and share the truth about its role in the oppression of Indigenous peoples, "including our role in educating and training, or being institutionally affiliated with, anyone who may have been involved directly or indirectly in the implementation … of colonial policies, practices and structures."

The faculty's response comes six years after the TRC called on academic institutions to do their part to take responsibility for their role in Canada's colonial history, and its lasting impact.

"This formal response from the faculty has taken significantly longer than we hoped," it wrote, adding that its response includes input from Indigenous students, alumni, faculty, staff, leaders and others.

On Friday, UBC committed to taking on some of the calls to action endorsed by the TRC, including those that advocate for the value of traditional Indigenous health systems to be recognized.

The school faculty said it will also make efforts to increase the recruitment and retention of Indigenous health-care students and practitioners, and to provide cultural sensitivity and humility training.

"What is written here is not the endpoint. Rather it represents the beginning of a journey to be taken together and whose course is not yet fully known… It is an unequivocal affirmation of the faculty's dedication to Truth and Reconciliation and serves as a starting point for deeper conversations on how to move forward and deliver on the pledges we have made here," wrote vice-dean Michael Allard and writer and grant team facilitator Daniel Tham.

Read more details in this document posted by UBC Friday.

Members of the UBC faculty also hosted a virtual ceremony Friday afternoon.

The faculty said the purpose of the ceremony was to formally reflect upon the department's response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's calls to action.

Dr. Dermot Kelleher, the faculty's dean and vice-president, issued a formal apology on behalf of the faculty. The event featured guest speakers including Steven Point, the current chancellor of UBC, and the province's first Indigenous lieutenant-governor.