The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples consisted of seven commissioners, two co-chairs, two executive directors, and six departments: secretariat, administration and finance, design and publishing, communications, research, policy, and the intervener participation program.
"The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was established by Order in Council on 26 August 1991. RCAP was mandated to investigate the relationship among Indigenous peoples, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society. The impetus for RCAP was spurred by events at Kanesatake in the summer of 1990 (the Oka Crisis), the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and section 37 processes, the Spicer commission, and the Government of Canada's failure to resolve a growing rift in relations between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state, and the federal government.
RCAP was tasked with investigating 16 terms of reference identified by former Chief Justice Brian Dickson pertaining to self-government, land claims, section 91 (24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, the status and legal position of Métis and off-reserve Indigenous peoples, Indigenous peoples living in the North, cultural issues, economic issues, the role of elders, the position and role of Indigenous women, youth, education and justice issues. In total, RCAP held 178 days of public hearings, visited 96 communities, heard briefs from 2067 people, consulted dozens of experts, commissioned 350 research studies, and reviewed numerous past inquiries and reports. The composition of RCAP consisted of seven appointed commissioners: four Indigenous and three non-Indigenous. George Erasmus and Justice René Dussault co-chaired the commission. On 21 November 1996, in Hull Quebec, the five volume final report was released, containing 440 recommendations. The central conclusion from the report stated that “the main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong.”
The harm caused by the Residential School System emerged as a recurring topic at public hearings held across the country. In its final report, RCAP highlighted the shameful legacy of the Residential School System and recommended that the Government of Canada establish a public inquiry to investigate the origins and effects of residential school policies and practices on Indigenous peoples. RCAP envisioned an inquiry which would consist of public hearings, an investigation into residential school records, abuses committed, remedial action by governments and churches, apologies, compensation to communities, and funding for treatment of affected individuals and families. To house the records required to investigate and document the Residential School System, RCAP recommended the establishment of a national repository of records. The repository would facilitate access to documentation and research on residential schools, provide financial assistance for the collection of testimony, and develop a curriculum to explain the history and effects of the Residential School System. "
1990-2000