Trudeau Says Canada Must Accept "Failings" on Aboriginal Residential Schools

By Mark Kennedy
Ottawa Citizen
December 15, 2015

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/trudeau-says-canada-must-accept-failings-on-aboriginal-residential-schools

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged that Canada will fully accept its “failings” in the century-long saga in which thousands of aboriginal children were sent to residential schools, where many endured physical and sexual abuse.

Trudeau made the promise Tuesday to hundreds of people gathered at the closing event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which released its final report after several years of study.

Trudeau’s remarks were met with cheers and standing ovations from those in the room – many of whom were former residential school students. Former prime minister Stephen Harper skipped a similar event last June where the TRC unveiled its summary report.

Trudeau had already endorsed the work of the TRC and said he will implement its proposals, although many do not fall under federal jurisdiction.

Trudeau did not lay out in detail Tuesday the recommendations he will put into action. But he noted that one of them – an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women – will be established. As well, as the TRC recommends, he said the government will implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The prime minister noted that when the previous government apologized in 2008 for Canada’s role in establishing the church-run schools, it acknowledged that the “burden” of the experience had been placed on aboriginal people for far too long.

“Our goal, as we move forward together, is clear: It is to lift this burden from your shoulders, from those of your families and communities,” said Trudeau. “It is to accept fully our responsibilities, and our failings, as a government and as a country.”

Trudeau began his speech with personal recollections of how he went to “very good schools” as a child.

“Of the schools I went to, I remember one moment in Canadian history class when we got to the chapter in the textbook on Indigenous Canadians. It was a good school, a good teacher, good textbook, I suppose.

“And the teacher shrugged and said, ‘This chapter is not very interesting, not very important. So we’re going to skip it.’”

Thanks to the work of the TRC, he said, never again will students be told that this is not an “integral part” of “everything we are” as Canadians.

The TRC report contains 94 recommendations for reform and puts pressure on federal and provincial governments to improve the lives of indigenous people in areas such as health care, education, child welfare, languages and culture, and justice.

“The final report provides a way forward for all Canadians, building on the formal apology of seven years ago,” said Trudeau. “It sets us squarely on a path to true reconciliation.”

“Today, we find ourselves on a new path, working together toward a nation-to-nation relationship based on recognition, rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.”

In a speech delivered last week to chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations, Trudeau promised a “total renewal” of the relationship between Canada and its indigenous people.

As part of that, he promised the chiefs his government will improve funds for First Nations education, drop the longstanding annual two-per-cent federal funding cap for increases to First Nations programs, and also do a “full review” of legislation “unilaterally imposed” on indigenous people by previous governments.

“This is a commitment I take seriously,” Trudeau told the TRC event Tuesday.

“I give you my word that we will renew and respect that relationship.”

The commission that investigated the schools was created as part of a lawsuit agreement between residential school survivors and the federal government and churches.

In an interview with the Citizen, commission chair Murray Sinclair said federal and provincial governments need to work together on fundamental reforms that give indigenous people “more control.”

Sinclair said that “leadership is vital” from the prime minister and “all levels” throughout the country.

In a speech at Tuesday’s TRC event, Sinclair said there are positive signs coming from the Liberal government – including its throne speech commitments and priorities spelled out in mandate letters to cabinet ministers.

“I stand before you here hopeful that we are at the threshold of a new era in Canada,” Sinclair said.

“I want to see things get done quickly,” he said at a news conference later. “I’d like to see things done in my lifetime. But I’d like to see things done within the next year or two.”

Beginning in the 1880s, more than 150,000 aboriginal children were torn from their families and sent to the schools. They were poorly fed, housed in badly constructed buildings that were often described as fire-traps, and neglected when their health deteriorated.

In total, seven generations of children were scarred by physical, emotional and sexual abuse in the schools, which often resembled violent prisons.

For most of the school year, they were not raised by their own parents, which meant they never learned how to become parents themselves. The intergenerational fallout was shattering and the effects are still keenly felt.

During hearings, the TRC heard from thousands of former students.

The TRC’s closing event included speeches from former residential school students, who spoke of the importance of how the school survivors told their stories to the commission.

“We dug deep inside,” Eugene Arcand said tearfully. “And we dug out the demons.”

In a written statement, the Opposition Conservatives said the TRC made many “positive recommendations,” but added that the Liberals, in their “zeal to try and play politics” had quickly accepted all 94 of the recommendations without a detailed cost analysis. The Conservatives also worried that Canadian laws could be “superseded” by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

NDP critic Charlie Angus said the TRC report is a “historic moment.”

“It’s a commission that laid out very clearly for Canadians to understand that cultural genocide was part of federal government policy. For the new government, they’re going to have to get serious about putting down the legislation to dismantle this discrimination and to put funds in place.”

Contact: mkennedy@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/Mark_Kennedy_

SOME KEY TRC PROPOSALS:

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RECONCILIATION

An independent council should be established to keep tabs on whether funds for aboriginal on-reserve education are increased, aboriginal health indicators are improving, and the rate of “criminal victimization” of aboriginal people is declining.

PUBLIC SERVANTS

Education should be provided to public servants at all levels on the history of aboriginal peoples, including residential schools.

EDUCATION

The federal government should repeal a section of the Criminal Code that allows teachers to use corporal punishment on students. The “funding gap” that discriminates against aboriginal children on reserves should be eliminated.

UN DECLARATION

The federal government should implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This would mean governments must obtain “free, prior and informed consent” from indigenous peoples in areas such as natural resource development.

LANGUAGE

The federal government should enact an Aboriginal Languages Act to help revitalize and preserve aboriginal languages.

OATH OF CITIZENSHIP

The federal government should amend the Oath of Citizenship for new citizens. In addition to swearing alliance to the Queen, new citizens would pledge: “I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada including Treaties with Indigenous peoples, and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.”