'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
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.