Trudeau tells UN of Canada’s shame over Indigenous Peoples
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used a speech to the United Nations on Thursday to probe a source of national shame: the historic struggles of Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
He spoke of forced migration and forced family separation in residential schools, which he said left a devastating legacy on reserves to this day. He said Canada came to exist without the consent and participation of the Indigenous populations who had lived there for millenniums.
“For indigenous peoples in Canada, the experience was mostly one of humiliation, neglect and abuse,” he said.
It was the major theme of his address, which did not gloss over the country’s failures and even referred to the international condemnation they have drawn.
But he also looked ahead to at a series of solutions: better infrastructure on reserves, better housing, signing of the UN Declaration Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
on Indigenous Peoples and a dismantling of the old Indian Affairs department.
“Canada remains a work in progress,” he said. “For all the mistakes we’ve made, we remain hopeful.”
Trudeau used these examples to bolster his main point here at the UN this week: that Canada is ready to take on complex challenges, at home and abroad, and deserves a seat on the Security Council.