TORONTO – Ontario’s chief coroner says his office is embarking on a review of unidentified human remains found over the past four decades to determine if any are linked to former residential schools.
Dr. Dirk Huyer says that in many cases, his office has not fully investigated human remains when they are considered to be over 50 years old.
He says he has been reconsidering that approach and now acknowledges that his office may have overlooked the identification of graves linked to residential schools in the province.
Huyer says a team from his office will examine the findings dating back to the 1980s to determine whether further investigation is required in any of the cases.
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Task force investigating a residential school in Brantford, Ontario. reveal the first case
Remains of a boy under the age of 14 were discovered near the Mohawk Institute’s residential school in Brantford, Ontario. in August of last year.
On Saturday, Brantford police said the remains “are not modern and have no forensic value,” adding that their officers would not conduct further investigations.
In May, a First Nation in Kamploops, BC, announced that ground penetrating radar had detected what are believed to be the remains of 215 indigenous children in unidentified graves at the site of a former residential school.
Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan revealed a similar find of more than 700 unmarked graves a month later.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
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