That's correct.
That's broadly rearticulated in a number of principles that apply, wherein countries themselves have the responsibility as responsible nation-states to be held accountable and to hold themselves to account for past wrongdoings. That is important, because there is a recognition sitting right beneath the surface in that. We have failed greatly as humanity on multiple occasions. Healthy, vibrant, national and international communities have to be built upon certain core principles of universal human rights—indigenous rights now.
Central to this is this concept of the guarantee of non-recurrence. This is the fancy international language that's used when Terri says, “I want to make sure that this never happens again to anybody anywhere.”
What we're not talking about here is changing history so that history is whitewashed. We're talking about ending the conflict. We're talking about real, true, lasting peacemaking in this country. We have been at conflict with indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and frankly with the environment, since the dawn of time here.
This is very big-picture stuff.
When we think about the painful process of how we understand our past leaders and the construction of this country, it's not just about re-understanding what it is that they've done, but also ensuring that there's appropriate balance. That's why National Indigenous Peoples' Day is so critically important. We have to recognize that the resistance of indigenous peoples to the creation of Canada is now being seen as in the core national interest.
The Prime Minister of Canada said that there is no place in Canadian society for the ideas that gave rise to the residential schools. That says something very fundamental about those ideas that we hold very deeply that are buried down inside us. Those have to be combatted with a degree of fierceness, frankly, and rooted out. They are very deeply buried inside us, at the individual, collective, societal and national level.