on records related to truth and reconciliation on Indian residential schools

Slater Boardroom, Robson Hall, University of Manitoba

April 30-May 2, 2014

(by invitation)  

Objective: To prepare an issues and alternatives paper for the governing council of the new National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

Facilitators: Camille Callison and Karen Busby

WEDNESDAY

6-9 p.m. Dinner in the Palm Room restaurant, Fort Garry Hotel. (We will have a big table. People will order dinner as they arrive.)

THURSDAY (at Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba)

8 a.m. Shuttle pickup for hotel guests

8:30 a.m. Coffee in Room 438, Robson Hall = Centre for Human Rights Research open area

9:00-9:10 Elder’s opening

9:10-9:15 Welcome and review of objectives

9:15-10:15 Introductions and initial thoughts on our objectives, process and questions posed

10:15-10:30  Break in Room 438

10:30-12:30   Layers of Access 

  1. What are the cultural, community and personal sensitivities surrounding the records?
  2. How do these sensitivities balance against access for research and public education?
  3. What core principles should the NRC base a policy of pro-active disclosure on?

12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch in Faculty Lounge (one floor down)

1:30-3:00   Decision-making structures

  1. How should principles of Indigenous ownership, control, access and possession apply to the use of NRC records?

3:00-3:15  Break

3:15 – 4:45  Research Agreements  

  1. Research agreements between university based researchers and archives permitting access to unredacted and restricted materials are common. What key provisions need to go into research agreements with the NRC?
  2. Should the NRC enter research agreements with non-university-based researchers and, if so, under what conditions? How can the NRC ensure non-university based researchers are accountable?
  3. What do community research agreements look like?  Can communities “sponsor” researchers to have access to the unredacted material?  What is the definition of a community for this purpose?

5:15 Shuttle pickup for hotel guests

7:00   Dinner at East India Company, 349 York Ave. (10 minute walk from Fort Garry Hotel)

FRIDAY  (at Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba)

8:00 a.m. Shuttle pickup for hotel guests

8:30 Coffee

9:00-10:00   Reproduction and Use (Copyright) Issues

  1. To what extent does copyright apply to the records in possession of the NRC? Can and should the NRC assess the rights attached to each record, and provide accurate advice to people on how they can be used?
  2. Do the archives from which the records originated have any legal control regarding future use of the records once at the NRC?
  3. Does the NRC have a licensing role? What are the copyright implications on licensing material for publication or other uses?
  4. To what extent, if any and how, should the NRC exercise control how records (text, statements, photographs) are used? E.g.
  5. How does it ensure that survivor’s statements are used in respectful  ways?
  6. Can it charge reproducing fees?
  7. Can it insist on credit lines?

10:00-11:00   Priorities in Processing

  1. The NRC will receive a huge volume of records. What records should have priority for processing/redaction? Some possibilities:
  2. Highest profile
  3. Easiest to process
  4. Order in which requests are made
  5. Requests from survivors
  6. Director’s discretion

11:00-11:15 Break

11:15-1:00 Next steps

1:30 p.m. Shuttle pickup for hotel guests

Background materials:

Manitoba Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (see section 17)

Access and Control of Indigenous Knowledge in Libraries and Archives: Ownership and Future Use, by Jane Anderson