The Expanded Kootenay Committee on Inter-Group Relations (EKCIR) was launched in October 1982. Established through the BC Ministry of the Attorney General, it included representatives from the various Doukhobor communities, including the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (USCC); the Christian Community and Brotherhood of Reformed Doukhobors (CCBRD); and the Sons of Freedom. It also included representatives from interior municipalities, the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the earlier Kootenay Committee on Intergroup Relations (KCIR), and the provincial and federal governments. Other members of Doukhobor communities attended the sessions as observers.
The goal of the group was to bring an end to the arson and bombings, and to reach an accord between the various Doukhobor communities. By 1985, the Committee signed the Interim Agreement between Doukhobor groups. Committee meetings lasted another two years and included archival research into the histories of the Doukhobor communities. The last session was held in September 1987.
The proceedings represent a pivotal moment in the Doukhobor story where political, historical, and religious differences were shared and a process of reconciliation could begin.
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Acknowledgements
The SFU Library gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre's B.C. History Digitization Program.
