Alberta government to apologize formally for Sixties Scoop on May 28

Survivors of the Sixties Scoop will receive an official apology from the Government of Alberta on May 28.

Premier Rachel Notley is expected to deliver the apology.

Brent Wittmeier, press secretary to Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee, said Thursday the province has been working closely with the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Alberta (SSISA) to understand the impact of the Sixties Scoop.

“Throughout the process, survivors and families were clear that an apology is necessary for reconciliation,” he said in an email.

“We look forward to the 28th, and thank SSISA, survivors and their families for their strength and resiliency.”

Adam North Peigan, SSISA president, said May 28 will be an “historic day for all survivors in Alberta and across Canada when the Government of Alberta acknowledges that this was a dark chapter in Alberta’s history.”

The provincial government held a series of six engagement sessions across Alberta to help develop a meaningful apology.

It heard from hundreds of survivors and families affected by the government policy of the day, under which thousands of Indigenous children were torn from their communities and placed in foster care or put up for adoption.

Indigenous Relations Minister Richard Feehan said in March the apology had to have real meaning, or there was no point to it.

“It’s the grief of loss that is really paramount here — it’s the loss of family, the loss of community, the loss of language, it’s the loss of a sense of self and a sense of pride,” he said at the time.