The Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action

On June 1, 2015, a group of Canadian philanthropic organizations and individual funders presented a collective Declaration of Action to the closing session of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Ottawa. Signatories pledge, among other things, to work towards reconciliation and the implementation of the spirit, intent, and content of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) recommendations and to ensure that the philanthropic community is engaged in the work of reconciliation. They agree not only to learn and remember, and understand and acknowledge the tragedy of the Residential School System and its effects on Indigenous communities, but also to participate and to act by sharing networks and resources, building relationships with Indigenous communities, and supporting the TRC’s findings and recommendations.