Institutional Issues Forum ‐ Agenda
Hosted by the AAO Institutional Development Committee
October 27, 2016 9:15 – 3:30
Archives of Ontario,
134 Ian Macdonald Blvd.,
Toronto, ON
9:15 – 9:45 Coffee and meet and greet (Coffee and light refreshments will be provided)
9:45 – 10:00 Welcome and Introduction
10:00 – 11:00 Archives as Good Medicine: Rediscovering Our Ancestors and Understanding the Root Causes of Intergenerational Trauma (Jesse Thistle, Metis-Cree / PhD candidate, York University).
- Presentation and film screening Jesse’s short film, “Kiskisiwin / Remembering,” which deals with decolonizing pioneer history.
- Jesse will be joined by Dr. Sandra Widmer (Dept. of Anthropology, York University), who will discuss discourses of colonialism in archives.
11:00 – 12:00 Archives and Indigenous Communities (Archives of Ontario’s Indigenous Relations Working Group)
- Among the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, two are of particular relevance to archives. Taken as whole, the Calls to Action should inform and enrich our work.
- What are Ontario archives doing to embrace the Calls to Action? What opportunities exist for the AAO moving forward?
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch(A variety of restaurants are available on the York University Campus for lunch.)
1:00 – 2:00 Reconciliation through Archives and Records (Nichole Vonk, General Council Archivist for the United Church of Canada)
- The provision of church records to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) documenting the history of the residential school system in Canada quickly evolved into one of the most complicated and important components of the TRC. This unprecedented collection of records was required not only for truth-telling and healing but absolutely essential for all parties to complete in good faith if the goal of reconciliation was to be met. With the close of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in June 2015 and the development of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, we must continue to walk the path together and consider what ongoing work involves archives and records. This presentation will examine the ongoing impact of Truth and Reconciliation work on the priorities of the United Church Archives and address some challenges for the archives community in responding to the TRC's Calls to Action.
2:00 – 3:00 Update on the Provincial Acquisition Strategy
- How’s it going? (Roundtable discussion on the implementation of the Strategy)
- Ontario Archival Accessions Register - getting ready to report (Aaron Hope, Provincial Acquisition Strategy Working Group)
3:00 – 3:30 Institutional membership fees and structure for the AAO (Paul Henry, Chair, Institutional Development Committee)
