Hopeful steps to reconciliation

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals talk a lot about reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples, but last week they did something that should help make it happen.

In a move that is welcome on both practical and symbolic levels, the federal government announced an $800-million settlement package for the survivors of the notorious Sixties Scoop.

If anyone deserves an official apology and compensation in this country today, it’s these men and women who, as powerless children, were traumatized by a succession of paternalistic and misguided governments.

Between 1964 and 1984, approximately 20,000 First Nations and Inuit youngsters who were considered to be at risk were torn from their parents, communities and traditional cultures to be raised by non-native families.

The intentions of this joint federal-provincial initiative may well have been to give these young people a better education and greater opportunities in life. But the results were devastating and left lasting scars. And last February, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled Ottawa was liable for the harm caused by the Sixties Scoop — even if officials at the time meant well.

Like the residential school system — which led in 2007 to a $2-billion settlement for its survivors — the Sixties Scoop was a crude instrument of assimilation.

First Nations communities were routinely not consulted when their children were adopted, even though they were supposed to be.

In some cases, the government issued death certificates for the children removed from their homes to erase any evidence of their Aboriginal heritage.

This, in fact, happened to Marcia Brown Martel, a member of Ontario’s Temagami First Nation who was taken by child welfare workers and adopted by a non-native family. In 2009, she began a legal fight for compensation for herself and others like her.

First, a federal Conservative government then its Liberal successor fought against that in court.

But now Trudeau’s Liberals have done the right thing by negotiating a deal that provides $25,000 to $50,000 for each Sixties Scoop victim.

In his nearly two years as prime minister, Trudeau has repeatedly stated reconciliation with First Nations and Inuit is a priority.

Yet progress has been slow and Trudeau has frequently been criticized for being more talk than action.

In the same week the Sixties Scoop deal was announced, members of First Nations communities from across Canada berated Trudeau on the steps of Parliament Hill in Ottawa for the failures of his government’s inquiry into the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls. Somehow, this initiative must be salvaged. Meanwhile, the Aboriginal child welfare system is begging for reform while too many First Nations reserves still have to boil their water to make it safe to drink.

And after last week’s settlement, Métis leaders are demanding compensation for members of their community who were part of the Sixties Scoop. Ottawa will have to consider their claims. Of course a long journey remains. But last week’s agreement shows that when a government has the will for reconciliation, it can find a way to bring it forward.