In advance of National Aboriginal Day on Friday (June 21), the City of Vancouver is launching its “Year of Reconciliation” today (June 20) with an aboriginal summit at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

It comes a day after the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report concluding that 40 percent of indigenous children live in poverty.

CCPA chief economist David Macdonald relied on data from the 2006 census, which revealed indigenous children are more than two-and-a-half times as likely as nonaboriginal children to live below Statistics Canada’s “low-income cutoff”—the technical term for the “poverty line”. This measures household income 50 percent below the median after adjustments are made for family size.

Meanwhile, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada will hold a forum in Vancouver from September 18 to 21 for aboriginal residential-school survivors to share their stories.

According to the TRC, more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children attended these government-funded schools, which were operated by churches from the early 1870s until 1996. Many were banned from speaking their Native languages, beaten, and sexually abused, leaving a lasting legacy on indigenous communities.

There will be numerous activities in Vancouver in September to raise public awareness and appreciation of First Nations, including an all-nations canoe gathering in False Creek on September 17.

On September 22, up to 50,000 people are expected to participate in a four-kilometre walk for reconciliation through downtown Vancouver.

Both events are being organized by Reconciliation Canada, which is a charitable partnership between the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society and Tides Canada Initiatives Society.

Last November, Vancity granted $500,000 to Reconciliation Canada. Vancity senior vice president Linda Morris told the Straight by phone that when the credit union announced it was backing efforts at reconciliation—including the walk—the company’s internal blog was “inundated with comments, positive comments, from our employees about how this is exactly what they would expect from Vancity”.

“People are very enthusiastic,” she said. “I put the challenge out to participate in whatever way works for you. If you have dollars, that would be great. If you have time, that would be great. But participate. That will be very moving and very meaningful.”