CANADA
APTN
By Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
OTTAWA–Indian residential school records on dead and missing children and abuse complaints to the RCMP may never see the light of day if Ottawa gets its way in its battle with the commission created to shed light on Canada’s darkest chapter, according to court documents.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is taking Ottawa to court over its refusal to hand over millions of records related to the 150 year existence of Indian residential schools. The court fight has been described as a battle for control over the history of residential schools.
The TRC alleges in court documents that the Harper government is refusing to release documents and files written following the closure of a residential school, even though some of these schools opened and closed on an ongoing basis and sometimes shut down and reopened in the same building.
“To the extent that documents were generated by Canada about a particular residential school after its closure, these materials would be necessary to complete the historical record of the (Indian residential school system),” stated Ken Roach, research advisor to the TRC, in an affidavit. “(The documents) would be essential to understand the particular legacy of that school.”
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