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<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Dear colleagues,</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><br>
We are writing to invite you and your students to join us this Fall in a durational reading of the
<b>Truth and Reconciliation Commission</b> report (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf"><span style="color:#0563C1">TRC</span></a><span style="color:black">).
In the wake of the horrific revelations of unmarked grave sites, and with more still likely to emerge, we feel that it is necessary that we read the TRC together. We have also heard the call from many Indigenous groups, including Native Earth Performing Arts,
for white/non-Indigenous/settler Canadians to read the TRC.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">By committing to reading the TRC (Executive Summary) over a series of weeks this Fall, we seek to deepen our understanding of how the residential school system perpetuated the genocide of Indigenous
peoples across Canada. In this, we draw inspiration from projects such as the </span>
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://trcreadingchallenge.com/"><span style="color:#0563C1">TRC Reading Challenge</span></a><span style="color:black"> and Theatre Passe Muraille’s
<a href="https://www.passemuraille.ca/trcreading/">reading</a> of the TRC this su</span><span style="color:black">mmer. By joining together as a community of theatre educators and students, we
<span style="background:white">hope that the shared experience of reading aloud and reflecting on the knowledge shared in the report will give us a strong base of understanding to respectfully work together in the future. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">How will this work?</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">When and how you read the TRC report with your colleagues and
<span style="background:white">students is up to you. Each of us is working with our home departments to organize a weekly one session to read and reflect on the TRC over the Fall semester and into the Winter if necessary. These readings will take place over
Zoom and will welcome potentially the entire university community</span>. Our hope
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">is that some form of reading will take place every day across the country. In the event that individuals and groups want to take part in the reading but cannot, there are many other ways to take action, including
pledging funds to the </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://www.irsss.ca/"><span style="color:purple">Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS</span></a><span style="color:black">).</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">If this is something you and your colleagues would like to do, please let us know
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPzP8t-ODYe5jfuknOM1URseIpFMF5KS6qfC39qALpo2Gaxw/viewform?usp=sf_link"><span style="color:#1155CC">by filling out this google form</span></a><span style="color:black">.
Details will follow about when and how you can sign up for specific reading time slots.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Best wishes to all as you prepare for the busy year ahead.
<br>
Sincerely,</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Selena Couture</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Katherine Zien</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Marlis Schweitzer</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Kim Solga</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Natalie Alvarez</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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