GC35 Fund For Healing (1994F732)

WHEREAS The United Church of Canada, in the apology offered by the 31st General Council to the Native people of Canada, committed itself to walk together with them "so that our people may be blessed and God's Creation healed"; and,

WHEREAS there can be no healing until and unless the wounds inflicted on Native people by the residential school system, in which the churches participated as the agents of the federal government, are acknowledged and addressed; and,

WHEREAS the likelihood of such healing is made greater if the Canadian people, through a process of education, begin to listen to the history of oppression as it is told by the survivors themselves; and those who have been oppressed are provided with resources to promote healing within their communities, and

WHEREAS there have been centres for healing established by various native communities; and

WHEREAS the British Columbia Land Claims Campaign provides a helpful model for the national Church to follow, in that it combines educational processes with the raising of a significant sum of money for the purpose of promoting the settlement of land claims;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the 35th General Council:

1. Establish a Fund For Healing with an initial goal of $1 Million, to be raised by voluntary subscription over the next five years (1995-1999) and made available to Native groups throughout the land in such a way as to promote healing among those who bear the scars of the residential school experience.
2. That responsibility for disbursing the funds realized be vested in the All Native Circle Conference, together with the Division of Native Ministries of British Columbia Conference, who shall first establish criteria for their disbursement.
3. That an invitation be extended to other churches who operated residential schools on behalf of the federal government to work with us in those efforts in a coordinated response, in which case the matters of determining criteria, means of disbursing funds, and coordinating these efforts will be resolved jointly.
4. That The United Church of Canada continue to urge the federal government to address their responsibility for the harm done by the residential school system.
5. That the Division of Mission in Canada be responsible for bringing a plan for implementation to the November, 1994 meeting of the General Council Executive."