“Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2019, Final Report”, Environics Research Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth identified a number of barriers to reconciliation, notably:
- myths and stereotypes about what Indigenous Peoples receive from Canada
- a lack of political leadership to implement real change, and
- too little understanding among non-Indigenous people
The national survey reveals how Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Canada view the future and reconciliation between their peoples.
The first of its kind, the Canadian Youth Reconciliation Barometer charts the state of reconciliation among youth in Canada (ages 16 to 29) through their attitudes, aspirations, priorities, and experiences. Only a minority of non-Indigenous Canadians view Indigenous Peoples as possessing unique rights that differentiate them from other ethnic or cultural groups in Canada, or are certain that resource development on Indigenous lands should not proceed in the absence of consent from the Indigenous Peoples concerned. It thus appears that the support within Canadian society of specific steps to advance reconciliation is not always underpinned by an awareness of the different constitutional and legal realities that affect the status of the country’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.