Brock’s Human Rights and Equity Office (HRE) is hosting the next drop-in session in its series meant to spark conversations around human rights and equity resources on campus.

Held Thursday, Sept. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in RFP 216, the upcoming Equity Dialogues session centres on the topic of neglect and ongoing abuse in Canadian institutions that are supposed to be predicated on care, such as long-term care homes, residential care centres and schools, with a particular focus on the Huronia Regional Centre. This facility housed people with developmental or intellectual disability diagnoses, including Indigenous children, in Orillia from 1876 to 2009.

Held monthly, the open space events focus on two resources shared in advance through the Equity Dialogues series on The Brock News. The resources address a single topic from two levels — beginner and competent — so learners can choose which resource meets their learning needs.

This month’s resources include:

• Beginner resource: RememberEveryName.ca
  • Remember Every Name is a group of Huronia survivors and supporters focused on honouring those who were laid to rest at the Huronia Regional Cemetery and ensuring that people remember the brutal and recent history of eugenics and abuse that took place at the Huronia Regional Centre. The organization’s work includes advocating for the Centre to be dismantled, pressuring the government to release documents, working on the cemetery on property, and leading the class action lawsuit against the Ontario Government which settled out of court.
• Competent resource: Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children
  • The film Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children highlights the residential school system in Canada and features narratives from Indigenous Survivors of Huronia. The documentary shares filmmaker Barri Cohen’s quest to uncover the truth about what happened to her two deceased half-brothers who were institutionalized at the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia in the 1950s. Please note that the graphic physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence featured in this film may be triggering to some viewers. A trailer for Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children is available on YouTube and the full film can be accessed through CBC Gem.

Discussion of these resources will be informed by the book Reconciling Canada: Critical Perspectives on the Culture of Redress, which examines a range of government apologies in Canada.

Staff in the Human Rights and Equity Office are available throughout the month to answer questions about these resources. For more information, contact Melissa Wilson at mwilson2@brocku.ca, Megan Kuzak at mkuzak@brocku.ca or Alana Lowe at alowe2@brocku.ca