(Ottawa) Residential school survivors say the federal government is keeping the truth about these institutions in the dark by cutting funding for archives and field research to find the unmarked graves of children who died at residential schools.
More than 150,000 children were forced to attend residential schools, and many survivors have described the horrific abuse they suffered to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. An estimated 6,000 children died while attending these schools, although experts say the real number could be much higher.
In 2021, after many First Nations reported finding what appeared to be human remains at the sites of former residential schools, Ottawa stepped in with more than $116 million to search for unmarked graves and commemorate dead children. As of March 2024, the government has actually provided 216 million through 146 different funding agreements.
It all ended up averaging about 71 million per year.
In the latest budget, the government allocated 91 million over the next two years to continue working on finding graves, or 45.5 million per year.
Laura Arndt, head of the Survivors Secretariat, a survivor-led organization that seeks to document and uncover the truth about what happened at the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, criticized what she said can only be characterized as a reduction in funding.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Laura Arndt (left), head of the Survivors’ Secretariat
Communities and organizations have been investigating residential schools for decades, including through case files. The most recent ground searches, using ground-penetrating radar, are being conducted in hopes of finding the children’s remains and bringing them home.
We are trying to uncover 150-year-old history, and the limited funding we have been given in three years is not feasible.
Laura Arndt, head of the Survivors’ Secretariat
The Survivors Secretariat said the change would have a dramatic impact on communities that have begun their research and those hoping to secure their own funding. Communities and organizations were informed via teleconference with federal government officials. They said their microphones had been cut off and they had limited ability to fight back.
“They’re waiting for us poor old residents to die,” said Roberta Hill, a survivor at the Mohawk Institute.
“Well, we’re not going anywhere, not yet, as far as I know. I said I would live as long as possible because I want answers and I want the truth. There will be no reconciliation – absolutely none – if you lie to us and do this to us. »
Concrete policies
Over the summer, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree reversed a decision to limit each community’s funding for research to $500,000. Previously, individual allocations were capped at $3 million, and Mr Anandasangaree said the original cap would be reinstated.
Speaking on Parliament Hill at the Truth and Reconciliation Day ceremony on Monday, Anandasangaree declined to discuss the funding issue.
“I’ll be happy to approach this in a healthier way later, based on what we’ve done,” he said in an interview. I have heard the stories of survivors and I believe we have done the right thing by lifting the cap and we will continue to work with all those affected. I look forward to having this conversation at a later time. »
Scott Hamilton, an anthropology professor at Lakehead University who participated in the residential school investigations, said the federal government is obligated to provide communities with the support needed to finish the work they are doing.
“If we choose to pass [ces tragédies] silently, if we choose to ignore, if we continue to live in an imaginary world where these terrible things did not happen, or perhaps were not as terrible as what was said, we are in some way choosing kind of close our eyes and hum a song so we don’t have to bear witness to what happened – to face the fact that terrible things were done in the name of our nation,” Mr. Hamilton said.
An important part of Canada’s heritage is facing these dark and painful facts and trying to heal and seek reconciliation. But we don’t achieve reconciliation without acknowledging these painful truths.
Scott Hamilton, professor of anthropology at Lakehead University
The Survivors’ Secretariat released a report Monday calling for 23 million records to be released to the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, along with RCMP files relating to missing children and unmarked burials.
It also says Canada must provide stable, long-term funding for these investigations and allow communities to determine what supports they need to carry out their work.
Mme Arndt explained that amid a growing trend of residential school denial, records and funding to find them become even more important.
NDP MP Leah Gazan introduced a private member’s bill in the House of Commons last week that aims to criminalize residential school denial, saying it would help end harm to survivors, their families and their communities.
Asked Monday about the need to support this bill by all federal parties, Ms.me Hill responded that that was “absolutely the case.”
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Roberta Hill (left), a survivor of the Mohawk Institute
“I wish they would come and meet us, the survivors who have been through all of this,” she said.
“We will tell you that it is a reality; it was a reality for all of us. »
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, on Monday, said his government needs to “look very carefully at this bill,” adding that any time limits are placed on freedom of expression, careful measures must be taken.
“Canadians understand that recognizing truth and reconciliation does not mean feeling bad or guilty about Canada, but committing every day to being a better Canada and understanding that for us to be the country we all want be, we must work hard at reconciliation,” he said.
“We will therefore take seriously any proposal from any political party. »