Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson speaks at Pembroke Campus

Posted on Wednesday, December 4th, 2024

For six and a half years, Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson listened to thousands of survivors of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools. It was emotionally draining and heartbreaking work and now the former commissioner is sharing her experiences in a new book entitled, North of Nowhere-Songs of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner. Wilson spent two days at the Pembroke Campus, first participating in a speaker series event focused on her book and then following up the next day by engaging in a day long dialogue hosted by the campus for its community partners.

More than 55 senior leaders from the Pembroke Campus, the Renfrew County public and Catholic school boards, the Pembroke Regional Hospital, Renfrew County Family and Children Services, the city of Pembroke and the County of Renfrew participated in a Kairos blanket exercise, before engaging in a conversation on how the group could collectively respond to the calls to action in the commission’s landmark report. The dialogue was facilitated by campus Elder Aimee Bailey.

Wilson called her time at the Pembroke Campus “uplifting,” adding that it “reassured her that we are moving forward and that education will get us out of this mess.” Wilson was the only non-Indigenous member of the commission that was chaired by Murray Sinclair, who recently passed away. The third member of the commission was Chief Wilton Littlechild.

Wilson’s book has been released almost ten years after the commission issued its 94 Calls to Action. She commended Algonquin College for its leadership, adding that she was leaving the Pembroke Campus “very encouraged and it has bolstered my spirits about the good work that you are doing here.” Wilson lives in Yellowknife and is married to a residential school survivor and the former premier of the Northwest Territories, Stephen Kakfwi.


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