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Canada should establish a national watchdog agency to ensure the country truly atones for the “cultural genocide” committed in past decades against thousands of indigenous children forced into residential schools, says the special commission looking into the brutal history of that policy.

[np_storybar title=”Among the recommendations:” link=””]National Council for Reconciliation

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Although appointed by the federal government, it would be independent. Composed of aboriginals and non-aboriginals, it would report annually to Parliament and oversee Canada’s “post-apology progress on reconciliation.”

It would keep tabs on, for instance, on whether the federal government is boosting funds for aboriginal on-reserve education, whether aboriginal health indicators are improving, and whether the rate of “criminal victimization” of aboriginal people is declining.

The prime minister would be required to formally respond to the commission by issuing an annual “State of Aboriginal Peoples” report.