A long wait ends
Prime Minister Trudeau apologizes to N.L. residential school students
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has “humbly” apologized for abuse and cultural losses at residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, saying the gesture is part of recognizing “hard truths” Canada must confront as a society.
Speaking at a ceremony with former students in Goose Bay, Trudeau apologized on behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians to former students at five schools in the province.
He said their parents were promised their children would be cared and provided for and would be safe.
“However we know today that this colonial way of thinking led to practices that led to deep harm,” said Trudeau.
He said the children were isolated from their families, uprooted from their communities and stripped of their identity. They were made to feel “irrelevant and inferior” and taught to be “ashamed of who they were and where they were from.”
“I humbly stand before you to offer a long-overdue apology ... on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians,” said a visibly moved Trudeau.
“To all of you we are sorry.”
“The kind of thinking that led to the establishment of the residential school system and left deep scars for so many has no place in our society. It was unacceptable then and it is unacceptable now.”
The former students were left out of a compensation package and national apology in 2008 by former prime minister Stephen Harper. His Conservative government argued that Ottawa didn’t oversee those schools, but the Liberal government offered last year to settle a class-action lawsuit for $50 million.
The crowd gathered Friday at an auditorium in Goose Bay cheered both Trudeau and Toby Obed, who accepted the prime minister’s apology on behalf of school survivors.
Obed approached the stage with his arms raised in triumph, and became overcome with emotion as he spoke.
“Because I come from a patient and forgiving culture I think it is proper for us to accept an apology from the Government of Canada,” said Obed.