For us, as colleagues and as leaders of the Canada Council for the Arts—one Indigenous, one non-Indigenous—we deeply value coming together on this day to reckon with the history of the residential school system, and we champion the role of the arts in this process. We also fully assume, with humanity and humility, our responsibility to ensure that the organization we have been entrusted to lead is exemplary in terms of decolonization—in its operations, its decision-making, and its actions. 

The Canada Council for the Arts is working toward a more just, equitable, and decolonized future for society. This day reminds us of our organization’s colonial origins and the urgency of our ongoing work to address the oppression, exclusion, and anti-Indigenous racism it has perpetuated as a colonial institution. This work includes the organization’s support to Indigenous arts in a way that respects and upholds the cultural sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and the concepts of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis self-determination. Indigenous staff at the Council, with the support of Indigenous peoples across the country, are leading these decolonizing efforts.