'We need to have the truth before we can have healing': Ottawa to release residential school records
How kids ended up in unmarked graves, like the ones discovered last year in Kamloops, B.C., could soon become clearer after Ottawa agreed to release a mass of records related to residential schools.
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs welcomed the deal, which could see hundreds of thousands of new documents shared.
"If your child went to public school, you would have access to those records as a parent or grandparent or guardian," explained Kukpi7 Judy Wilson. "In this case, we never had access to it."
The governments and churches that ran the schools have been under sustained pressure to provide the records since the graves were detected at a number of residential school sites across the country last year.
On Thursday, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Mark Miller signed a Memorandum of Understanding that outlined how and when records would be released to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg.
"Survivors, we want you to trust that we are doing all we can to uncover the truth," Miller said at a news conference. "We know our words aren't enough and we need concrete action."
Words aren't enough because for years, officials insisted all documents had been released. Last October, the prime minister told reporters as much.
"All the federal records in possession of the federal government have already been turned over to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation," Justin Trudeau said.
Yet that wasn't the case, and First Nations leaders pushed back, leading to the newly struck deal and framework to release more records.
For Wilson, it marks a crucial step towards reconciliation.
"We need to have the truth before we can have healing," she said in an interview with CTV News.
The process could take six months, and resources will be required to comb through the information, which needs to be handled with care.
The horrors of Canada's residential school system saw increased international attention last year, as more people around the world learned about the thousands of children who were pulled from their families by force and put into church-operated, state-sanctioned schools where abuse was rampant.
Beyond residential schools, Wilson said documents related to hospitals may help shed light on what happened to others who vanished.
"A number of people in our community were sent to the infirmaries for TB back in the day and you know, some may never had made it home either," added Wilson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.