OTTAWA-
Ottawa was careful to avoid admitting that the abuses indigenous children suffered in residential schools occurred “at the hands of the federal government” in remarks prepared for a Liberal cabinet minister after the discovery of unmarked graves last year, documents show. .
The Canadian Press obtained documents through the Access to Information Act showing a preliminary version of a speech written by Carolyn Bennett, who was then Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, originally contained those words before they were edited. .
“I am concerned that they are still in a position to defend themselves,” said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.
In May 2021, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation announced that ground-penetrating radar had found what is believed to be the unmarked graves of about 200 children at the site of a former residential school near Kamloops, British Columbia.
The revelation sparked a nationwide reckoning over the legacy of residential schools, which were government-funded, church-operated institutions that some 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were forced to attend. attend in Canada for more than a century. Thousands of children suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect, or even died.
The discovery also raised questions about what Ottawa was going to do about it.
Days later, the Department of Crown-Indian Relations was drafting a speech for Bennett in anticipation of a possible emergency debate on the matter in the House of Commons.
That never happened. Another form of debate took place and it appears that the draft speech, as written in the documents, was not the one that Bennett ended up delivering.
A section of the preliminary comments addresses the plight of children in residential schools, originally saying that they “experienced unthinkable trauma, including physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of the federal government simply by attending school.”
Speech writing can be a long process. The text is often drafted by the department and then sent to the minister’s office staff and the minister, and then sometimes back and forth.
The edits contained in the 17 pages of drafts show that the words “at the hands of the federal government” were struck out. The reason for the review was removed before the documents were published in The Canadian Press.
“The government talks a lot about reconciliation,” said Eleanore Sunchild, a Saskatchewan attorney and advocate for Thunderchild First Nation, which has represented many residential school survivors in physical and sexual abuse cases.
“That, however, doesn’t speak to reconciliation at all, removing those words.”
The Crown Department of Indigenous Relations has not yet responded to a request to explain the change. But current minister Marc Miller’s office said in a written statement that the federal government “takes full responsibility” for its role in the residential school system, “including the abuse indigenous children suffered in these institutions.”
Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for Canada’s role in residential schools in 2008 as part of the landmark Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
In her speech, Harper apologized that the government “failed to protect” children in institutions, which, she said, “too often led to abuse or neglect.”
He also apologized for the separation of children from families and acknowledged that it has consequences for future generations.
Last month, Pope Francis came to Canada to apologize for residential schools on behalf of the Catholic Church, which operated more than 60 percent of the institutions.
The pontiff apologized for the “evils” committed by “many Christians” against indigenous children in boarding schools. Many indigenous leaders said they expected an apology that spoke specifically about the role of the Catholic Church.
Bill Percy, a Winnipeg-based attorney who has represented survivors seeking compensation for sexual and physical abuse, said the government may not agree with the words “at the hands of” in the draft.
“That implies that they were the physical abusers,” he said.
“Most of the direct abusers would be church-related employees, not federal government employees.”
Still, he said Canada has paid most of the billions of dollars distributed to whistleblowers under the agreement.
“When the time comes, in court cases, the federal government has always taken responsibility.”
Blackstock said he sees where Ottawa has “wiggle room,” given that the federal government did not directly perpetuate the abuse.
“What the federal government did was knowingly put children in situations where this was happening and chose not to intervene to save them from death and abuse,” he said.
She said that whether it is the Vatican or Canada, institutions have shown a reluctance to take full responsibility for residential schools.
“What has bothered me in general is the federal government’s description of this as a ‘dark chapter in history,’ and not really acknowledging the fact that they knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew it was wrong. leading to child deaths”.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 10, 2022.
With files from Jim Bronskill
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If you are a former survivor of a struggling residential school, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional resources and mental health support for indigenous peoples are available here.