CANADA
Vancouver Sun
OTTAWA – The federal government will release millions of files documenting the abuse suffered by aboriginal children who attended Canada’s Indian residential schools, Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said Monday.
His statement comes as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission prepares to take the government to court on Dec. 20 to gain access to the files.
Although the government has released 937,000 documents to the commission, millions of records are still sitting in archives across the country. The commission says it wants the remaining files in order to fulfil its mandate of recording the controversial and tragic history of Canada’s residential school system.
In a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Ontario, Toronto lawyer Julian Falconer states the commission has encountered “serious difficulties” in obtaining the enormous amount of paperwork it requires.
By withholding millions of records, the government is reneging on its promise to create a national residential school research centre, according to Falconer. In a statement Monday, he dubbed the court case a battle over “control of history.”
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