Reconciliation at BCLC Starts With Listening

The discovery of 215 unmarked graves of children who attended the Kamloops Residential School, just a short distance away from our Kamloops head office, continues to impact all of us at BCLC in different ways. As many Indigenous Elders have shared, this is the first of many unmarked graves to be discovered at former residential school sites across the county, including 751 recently discovered at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.

As a Kamloops-based business, we must understand how we can support our Indigenous players, colleagues, community members and leaders as we grasp the enormity of this loss.

Our first step: Listening.

BCLC organized and hosted a Sharing Circle on June 10, 2021, led by two Indigenous Elders who generously took the time to be with us. Adele Fletcher and Shirley Gambler, both from the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society and then conducted a Smudging Ceremony. This was such a meaningful time of sharing.

Together with staff and Executives, we listened to tthese Elders’ stories of survival in residential schools and foster care with non-Indigenous people.

The Elders invited us to share stories about our lineage. I shared how my Dutch roots include ties to colonialism, slavery and apartheid, and the feelings of remorse, guilt and sadness this imbues. Some participants shared feelings of confusion and shame about not being taught about Canada’s history of residential schools or their impact on Indigenous people, an ever present impact.

Our flags, including our newly-raised Progress flag, remain at half mast as we grieve and honour so many lost lives.

Sharing and listening to stories about events that have led us to where we are now, helps drive positive change at BCLC. Indeed, we celebrated National Indigenous Peoples Day with presentations by both Métis and First Nations Elders. During Pride celebrations this month, we also learned about "two spirited" people in the Indigenous communities - those who fulfill a traditional third-gender ceremonial and social role in their cultures. 

At the same time, it’s incumbent on each of us to act – we cannot place the burden of teaching on those who are grieving and coping with trauma. At BCLC, we have initiated Indigenous training to a small number of key staff and plan to offer it more broadly in the near future. These actions are intended to help us be champions for change in the communities we serve.

What are your Indigenous employees and communities sharing with you? How are you educating yourself and your employees? And how will you use these opportunities to help guide your business’ future on a path they help inform? Are you listening? Are you taking action? Both are equally important.