FULFILL THE PROMISES
As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented its final report on residential schools Tuesday, one social media commentator paid tribute to its chair, Justice Murray Sinclair, saying he was like “a strong grandfather shouldering the pain and memories of survivors so that we could know the truth.”
Though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was addressing all aboriginal people when he responded to the report with a pledge to work to “lift this burden from your shoulders, from those of your families and communities,” he might just as well have been referring to Sinclair.
Listening to the gut-wrenching stories of neglect and abuse suffered by residential school survivors undoubtedly has taken a toll on Sinclair and his fellow commissioners Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild.
Indeed, Sinclair became emotional during yesterday’s news conference when he acknowledged the strain the job had placed upon his family and health these past six years.
When the commission visited Regina in 2012, Sinclair spoke to the Leader-Post editorial board about the personal impact, saying “the number of children that died in residential schools shocks me.”
Though the “official” number of children who died is 3,201, the final report into “one of the darkest stains on the history of Canada” notes it is likely much higher because of poor historical record keeping. Many victims of malnutrition, tuberculosis and influenza were buried in unmarked graves.
More than 150,000 children were taken from their families under a federal government policy of forced assimilation that began in the 1880s. Even though Ottawa began closing the mostly church-run schools in the 1970s, the last one — Saskatchewan’s Duck Lake — remained open until 1996.
Documenting the human impact of this national tragedy is vital to ensuring a) the victims are never forgotten and b) providing fresh impetus to move forward with policies that will help aboriginal Canadians take their rightful place as equal citizens.
Some good first steps have already been taken — a national apology was proffered by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2008 and almost $3 billion has been paid in compensation to residential school survivors.
As well as launching a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, Trudeau has promised a new start — and to implement all 94 of the commission’s recommendations, including improving health, education and justice outcomes for aboriginal people.
We don’t doubt his sincerity. However, the past is littered with political promises to aboriginal people that were easily made, but just as easily broken.
All Canadians have a stake in ensuring that, this time, promises are kept. This editorial reflects the view of the Regina Leader-Post editorial board.