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· To
date, Canada has disclosed virtually all relevant active and semi-active
documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (over 1.8 million
documents), as well as about 2.3 million historical documents held by Library
and Archives Canada, for a total of over 4.1 million documents.
· As part of
this exercise, three distinct collections of
documents have been created, each with its own set of timelines for delivery
to the Commission.
Active
and Semi-Active Collection
· AANDC
has worked with the Department of Justice Canada and other government
departments to ensure that virtually all relevant active and semi-active
documents were made available to the Commission by July 2013, a year prior to
the end of its mandate.
·
For various reasons, largely due to
technical issues, a very small number of documents from this collection
remain to be disclosed. It is anticipated that these remaining documents will
be disclosed to the Commission by December 31, 2013.
· Each
department holding residential schools-related documents was required to
extensively search through its active and semi-active files to identify
documents relevant to the mandate of the Commission.
· In
many cases, this was an extremely time-consuming exercise.
· Once
identified, documents were digitized, coded and reviewed by the Department of
Justice Canada for relevance and privilege.
· A
detailed breakdown of documents disclosed from Canada’s active and
semi-active collection has been attached as Annex 1.
Legacy
Collection
· While
the majority of Canada’s active and semi-active documents have been provided
to the Commission, there is a small collection of documents related to the
effects of Indian residential schools, referred to as the “Legacy
collection”, which remains to be disclosed.
· As of October 11, 2013, all of Canada’s legacy documents have
been transferred to Department of Justice Canada for review.
· The Department of Justice Canada will disclose all remaining
Legacy documents by December 31, 2013,
thus completing Canada’s disclosure of all documents, aside from those held
at Library and Archives Canada.
Library
and Archives Canada Collection
· While
Canada has disclosed a portion of its residential schools documents held at
Library and Archives Canada, there are many left to provide. The balance of
this document outlines work completed to date and summarizes the plan for
providing the remaining documents at Library and Archives Canada.
Defining
Work for the Library and Archives Canada
Collection
· Since the
January 30, 2013 court decision, AANDC, the Commission and Library and
Archives Canada have worked collaboratively in an effort to define the work
to be completed at Library and Archives Canada. Between
March and May 2013, a working group comprised of representatives from each
organization met on an almost weekly basis to pool existing knowledge of
departmental collections at Library and Archives Canada in order to identify
the scope of the project.
· This work
resulted in a very comprehensive and practical report, which
identifies ”the outer limits of what is reasonable” on a “without prejudice’’
basis. Identifying the outer limits of the project scope has been necessary
for costing and efficiency purposes. While the exact extent of material to be
provided cannot be predicted prior to researchers searching through boxes at
Library and Archives, the report has provided a great deal of clarity,
including jointly confirming areas of records where research has been
conducted and those that require further searching, as well as defining what
the Commission is seeking for each departmental collection.
· In
addition, AANDC and the Commission have begun collaborating on a joint plan
for providing Canada’s relevant residential schools documents held at Library
and Archives, which focuses on the remaining work by identifying outstanding
issues, setting out project target dates, and outlining clear roles and
responsibilities.
Schedule
and Budget for the Library and Archives Canada
Project
· Canada is
using the jointly developed scoping report as a baseline to project the total
cost and timing of the project.
· Given the
nature of the project and the lack of concrete information on the precise
amount of relevant material at Library and Archives, it has been difficult to
determine the precise scope of the project, its funding requirements and its
ultimate timetable.
· As
researchers begin targeted reviews of the material at Library and Archives
and more detailed information on specific collections is acquired, the
overall scope and projected costs are becoming progressively clearer.
Assessing/Mitigating
Risk
· A team of
existing AANDC staff will provide project oversight and coordination
throughout the lifespan of the project, ensuring efficiency and value for
money, and continuing to lead on liaison and relationship issues with the
Commission. This team will work closely with the Commission and the team
tasked with disclosing Canada’s relevant documents housed at Library and
Archives, to identify any risks that should arise and take corrective
measures as necessary.
Monitoring
and Reporting
· The
AANDC project team will receive regular progress reports from the team
conducting research at Library and Archives. Based on these reports,
decisions will be made on whether certain avenues of research should be
pursued or abandoned, in consultation with representatives of the Commission
as appropriate. The goal will be to continually focus search efforts on the
necessary.
Using
an Existing Contract on an Interim Basis
· AANDC
recognizes the need to act quickly and has explored options for expediting
the process of disclosing relevant documents held at Library and Archives
Canada.
· In
an effort to expedite the disclosure of priority documents at Library and
Archives Canada to the Commission for the purposes of writing its final
report, AANDC
has provided the Commission with $400,000 (from existing internal AANDC
resources) to access the services of an expert research firm
currently under contract with the Commission to begin producing some
documents as quickly as possible.
· In
order to establish clear deliverables for this $400,000, AANDC and the
Commission collaborated on a project plan outlining how these funds would be
allocated. It was agreed that work would focus on the collection of documents
the Commission requires to complete its final report. More specifically,
these funds are being used to:
identify
photographs taken by the former Department of the Interior;
research
Health Canada records related to the provision of health services
to Indian residential schools students, and
research
Department of National Defence cadet programs at Indian residential schools.
· This
work began on August 6, 2013, and is expected to be finished by November
2013.
· AANDC
has also internally identified up to an additional $1.2 million to provide to
the Commission for this contract, so that this work at Library and Archives
Canada can continue to the end of this fiscal year. AANDC and the Commission
are in the process of developing a project plan for this work outlining how
these additional funds will be allocated. As with the first $400,000, work
will focus on the collection of priority documents which the Commission
considers important for the completion of its final report, particularly
records from AANDC, RCMP, Health Canada and Canadian Heritage.
· At
the same time, work continues on how the rest of the documents held at
Library and Archives Canada will be provided to the Commission, including
achieving clarity on who would do the work, and planning and effort to secure
funding for this project.
Photographs
· AANDC
officials have identified a small group of existing human resources within
the Department that will be mobilized to undertake small projects and address
issues such as higher-quality digitization for photographs.
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