By Bill Curry
The Globe and Mail
April 7, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/churches-get-apology-from-truth-and-reconciliation-commission/article1526792/
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| The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of Truth and Reconciliation Canada. Photo by Peter Power/The Globe and Mail |
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has issued a written apology to the churches involved in residential schools after the commission’s research director accused them of being unco-operative.
Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair, the chair of the commission, has sent a letter of apology to representatives of the Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and United churches to distance the commission from John Milloy’s comments, which first appeared in a Trent university newspaper.
“It was, in fact, Professor Milloy himself who brought the matter to my attention, with his assurance that he profoundly regrets the tone, language, and assumptions cast within his statements,” states the letter. “The Trent article, I am assured, is an example of one’s impatience winning over one’s passion to ‘get the job done.’”
Mr. Justice Sinclair is scheduled to meet with church leaders on Thursday in Winnipeg, where the commission will hold an open house to unveil its new headquarters.
In the Trent interview, Mr. Milloy suggested that Catholic entities are particularly wary of handing over their documents to the commission because it could reveal new incidents of sexual abuse and expose the church to further lawsuits.
“I want to express on behalf of the TRC, our regret and apology for the Professor Milloy interview with the Trent University publication. The comments do not reflect in any way the history or spirit of our relationship.”
Dr. Milloy is one of Canada’s leading historians on Indian residential schools. He had exclusive access to government archive material as part of the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and is the author of A National Crime, a 1999 book chronicling the history of the schools, which primarily operated as joint ventures between Ottawa and the churches.
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