At the request of 80 bereaved families, Quebec has so far begun research to find 120 dead or missing indigenous children, more than a year and a half after the entry into force of the law on this subject.
“To know that there are 120 children that the parents are looking for or that they do not have the information, it is horrible. One is one too many. But 120 is horrible,” said Ian Lafrenière, Minister responsible for First Nations and Inuit Relations, in an interview with The duty.
On the other hand, this proves that people have confidence in “Law 79” giving access to medical archives of hospitals, he nuances.
On Thursday, the Minister tabled in the Blue Room the second annual report of the An Act to authorize the communication of personal information to the families of Aboriginal children who have disappeared or died following admission to an establishment.
The majority of requests concern Innu, Atikamekw and Anishinaabe children who were born mainly between 1927 and 1980.
At this time last year, 35 families had started a search to find 55 children with the help of the Family Support Branch.
There is still a lot of work to be done to make the law known, especially among the Inuit communities, underlines Mr. Lafrenière. “We have to break through and we know that it will not be done by a mega campaign or anything. That’s not how it’s going to work. It is to go there with small steps, to have presences, to repeat this same message several times. »
Requests for exhumation
According to the report, three requests for the exhumation of children’s bodies were initiated by families accompanied by the Directorate of Family Support. “We knew it could happen and we got there,” said Minister Lafrenière. It’s special because it’s going to require a lot of energy and it’s going to be difficult. You have to tell yourself. Although the families want it, it’s going to be difficult. »
Since the law came into force, several families have asked to have the bodies of the children exhumed, most of whom are buried outside community cemeteries. The goal is to “be able to offer them a burial near their loved ones, surrounded by their loved ones”, can we read in the document.