(Ottawa) The federal Minister of Justice is examining the idea launched by the independent advisor on anonymous burials who calls for legislation to criminalize denial of residential schools for Aboriginal children.
Indigenous leaders have also raised this demand.
In her interim report submitted in June, Kimberly Murray, the independent extraordinary interlocutor for missing children and anonymous graves and burials linked to Indian residential schools, wants federal parliamentarians to study “legal mechanisms” to sanction the denial of the location of abuse suffered by children in residential schools for native people.
One of the ways to achieve this would be to modify the Criminal Code in order to criminalize this denial as Parliament did in 2022 to fight against negationism, an ideology which consists of denying the existence of the Shoah, a- she said during a recent interview.
“We can do the same for indigenous people. Denying what happened at residential schools or minimizing it must become an offense for inciting hatred against indigenous peoples. »
Mme Murray, whose two-year term is due to end next June, points out that all the stakeholders she has spoken to, including Indigenous leaders, want such an amendment to the Criminal Code to be adopted.
More than 150,000 Métis, Inuit and First Nations children were placed in residential schools, the majority of which were run by the Catholic Church.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada investigated this system for six years. She has heard from thousands of victims who suffered physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse and suffered from neglect and malnutrition.
Approximately 6,000 indigenous children died in these institutions. Several experts believe that this toll could be higher. The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation has listed more than 4,000 victims’ names.
At the time of the provisional report, David Lametti was the Minister of Justice. He said he was open to all legislative possibilities to fight against the denial of residential schools, in particular by making it “outlawed”.
Mr. Lametti has since been replaced by Arif Virani.
Chantelle Aubertin, a spokesperson for Mr. Virani, said that he was “exploring all the options” proposed by Mr.me Murray in his preliminary report. The minister looks forward to reading final recommendations, she added.
“We cannot ignore the lasting impacts these residential schools had on Indigenous people. This intergenerational trauma continues to be felt today. The denial of these atrocities is painful for the victims, families and communities,” she said on Friday.
According to Mme Aubertin, the final recommendations of Mme Murray will be crucial to the establishment of a federal legal framework to protect the rights and uphold the dignity of children buried in unmarked graves linked to residential schools.
In the meantime, Mme Murray says he hopes Winnipeg Center NDP MP Leah Gazan will soon introduce her private member’s bill to criminalize residential school denial.
Mme Gaza recently told reporters that the plan “continues to be refined.” She later confirmed that she intended to introduce the legislation without specifying when.
“I really hope she does.” She has all my support to get there. All the victims will support him in his efforts, underlines Mme Murray. We’re holding our breath hoping she’ll do it this month. »