(Ottawa) The independent special interlocutor appointed by Ottawa in the file of the unmarked graves near the former residential schools for Aboriginals believes that the government’s decision to appeal to an international organization lacks transparency and risks causing harm.
Kimberly Murray said she raised her concerns directly with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller over his department’s decision to spend $2 million to obtain expertise from the International Commission for Missing Persons .
This organization, based in The Hague, Netherlands, specializes in identifying the remains of people who have disappeared or been killed as a result of armed conflict, human rights violations or in natural disasters, such as the Lac-Mégantic rail tragedy in 2013.
Minister Miller’s office explained that this international organization would undertake a “country-wide awareness campaign” with Indigenous communities seeking to know their options for identifying or repatriating the possible remains of children who were forced to attend residential schools. federal.
Following these meetings, which, according to the minister’s office, will take place with the help of “local Aboriginal facilitators”, the commission will have to submit its recommendations to the government in a report.
But Kimberly Murray, who was named the “independent special contact for missing children and unmarked graves and graves” last year, said she was concerned about the lack of consultation with Indigenous leaders before Ottawa signed the contract.
“There is no transparency,” she lamented in a recent interview.
Mme Murray, who served as executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada from 2010 to 2015, is concerned about the international commission’s lack of experience working with residential school survivors.
She also wonders why the federal government is asking for another report on the issue, when it has created a special interlocutor position to provide her with recommendations.
“They’ve created Indigenous-led mechanisms, but at the same time, it’s almost like they need a side report from a non-Indigenous entity to get any credibility,” said Ms.me Murray. And they do it, so to speak, on the sly. »
A spokeswoman in Minister Miller’s office said Thursday evening that “agreements and documents will be shared as appropriate, with input from all parties.”