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Canadian Reconciliation Barometer

Boozhoo, tansi, kíl 'láa, & hello from our team!

In the middle of a cold snap in Winnipeg, someone new to the city might mistake the beautiful, clear, sunny sky as a warm winter day, and so run out the door without bundling up. This is an apt metaphor for our work. We always thought this project would take a lot of work and dedication, but underestimated how much preparation it would take to get our project “out the door.” In case you may not remember, our goals are to:

  • understand what reconciliation means to Indigenous Peoples and others in Canada;

  • develop a rigorous tool to track progress toward reconciliation in Canada, and;

  • disseminate our findings widely.

To achieve this goal, we consulted the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) Survivor Circle for advice. We also studied, through archival public (non-anonymous) Truth and Reconciliation Commission documents housed at the NCTR, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Survivors’ answers to this question: What does reconciliation mean to you?

Next, we organized 20 focus groups and some interviews with reconciliation leaders across Canada, because there is diversity in experiences across the country. On the map below, the dark brown circles represent where we went and the orange circles where we hoped to go, but could not for a variety of reasons. We held separate focus groups for Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants to assess points of agreement and disagreement; what aspects of reconciliation are most valuable; what may prevent reconciliation, and; signs of reconciliation, if any, exist. Throughout, we strived to complete the work in a good way; for example, by learning about and respecting cultural protocols in each region. Our hope is to be able to organize more focus groups and interviews in the regions we missed in the future.

Then, over several months in 2020, we developed the initial set of questions for the barometer using the best practices in psychometrics (the science of psychological measurement) and our understanding of reconciliation, based on the archival transcripts, the focus groups and interviews, a review of all existing barometers worldwide, and personal experiences.

Now we are focusing on completing two national polls. We have just completed the first poll. After we analyze the findings of this first poll, we will launch our second poll with the best items and develop public and academic summaries of our findings.

Next, in our March newsletter, we want to highlight our measurement approach and polling partner, Probe Research, who have collaborated with us to create a Mitacs Industrial Internship to increase the capacity of our project.

Best wishes,

The Canadian Reconciliation Barometer Team
https://twitter.com/BarometerLab