The federal government says it’s planning to auction off a glut of reconciliation accumulated since the 2015 election when the Liberals swept to power.
“We find ourselves with a rather large excess amount of reconciliation since, you know, we’ve been reconciling so hard with Indigenous people,” said Bianca Puro, a senior official from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).
“Frankly, there’s just so much reconciliation that we can’t even store it all.”
A spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office said the excess was collected primarily in ‘dribs and drabs,’ through policies and funding agreements.
However, the largest amounts were collected from reconciliation surges caused by the approval and purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, the refusal to build a treatment centre for survivors of a massive and destructive mercury spill in Ontario and the longstanding refusal to provide equitable care for First Nations children on reserves.