A far cry from reconciling: Understanding youth responses to reconciliation in Canada

For years, views and ideas about 'reconciliation' in the "Canadian Indigenous" contexts have been shared, questioned, and debated. However, many people are still unsure of its true meaning and whether it is achievable. An important perspective comes from the youth in Canada. This paper examines youths' views and responses to reconciliation in Canada using qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interviews, drawing on a sample of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth at Acadia University (n=4). This research concludes that acknowledgement of past harms, building relationships, open dialogue, and education are key components of fair and honest reconciliation, but that reconciliation cannot be achieved when there are still inequalities in society. If the youth of this country are not educated on these subjects, they will be unable to grasp why reconciliation and reparation are needed and will be unable to make lasting changes to the system that is still very much colonial