CTV News journalist connects with his large Indigenous family for first time
From Vancouver, it takes the whole day to get to Alert Bay, B.C., off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. For CTV News reporter Ben Miljure, it’s taken his whole life.
Miljure decided to visit Alert Bay in the latest step in reconnecting with his Indigenous heritage. He’s a descendant of the Cook family, which held a special reunion that drew hundreds of family members from all over western Canada.
It was a difficult decision for Miljure.
“I was concerned I would feel like an outsider, a visitor," he said.
For most of his life, Miljure knew little about his Indigenous family.
“It would have been very awkward and embarrassing so I just avoided those conversations.”
A turning point for the 43-year-old journalist came when he was covering the discovery of suspected unmarked graves at the site of a former Kamloops residential school. During a live report, Miljure was overcome with emotion. Since then, he has made efforts to find and connect with family members.
The biggest void in his life was not knowing where his mother was. Elisabeth Hill was removed from her Indigenous family as a child. She struggled on the streets, and for 21 years her family had no idea where she was.
In 2018, Hill’s sister, Halie Bruce, a lawyer, testified at the Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. Her testimony prompted the investigation to be re-opened and Hill was found living in a care home in Toronto.
“We were able to find Lisanne when the investigation was done properly,” said Bruce.
Miljure has visited his mother in Toronto three times. After that, he felt ready to meet his large extended family.
At the Cook family reunion, he met his 89-year-old grandmother for the first time.
“I was carrying a picture of me and my mom because she hasn’t seen my mom in decades. We hugged and we were both crying.”
The reunion held a special ceremony in the Namgis Big House to welcome Miljure into the family. His aunt Halie Bruce said, “Eventually we all come home. If we're lucky to survive the intergenerational impacts, we come home and our culture will save us.”
They presented him with a vest to symbolize how he will be covered and protected by his family.
Miljure spoke after the ceremony, clearly moved by the support.
“I have this sense of relief – this weight is lifted from my shoulders. I feel like where I belong. I really took the long way around but I am so happy to be home.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.