The final report on unmarked graves and missing Indigenous children at residential schools was released this week. It made 42 “obligations” about how this country should move forward with reconciliation.
It called for an Indigenous-led national commission, with at least a 20-year mandate to probe the disappearance of Indigenous children. It also called for changes to the Criminal Code that would make it illegal to deny the harm done by residential schools.
We have no problem with an Indigenous-led commission. Residential schools are a shameful part of our history and, if we’re to move forward as a strong, united country, it’s incumbent on us to search out the facts.
The time frame is problematic. Twenty years is too long to allow this wound to fester. Between 2007 and 2015, this country spent $72 million to produce the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996. Some estimates suggest 6,000 died in the schools. Other claims put that figure higher.
We’ve had apologies from churches. Pope Francis visited in 2022 and delivered an apology on behalf of the Catholic Church. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby spent five days in Canada that same year, visiting Indigenous communities to deliver an Anglican apology.
As for criminalizing residential school denial, we urge Justice Minister Arif Virani to reject that recommendation. Canada already has robust hate speech laws that make it an offence “to communicate statements in a public place which incite hatred against an identifiable group, where it is likely to lead to a breach of the peace.” Otherwise, free speech is a cornerstone of democracy.
Special Interlocutor Kimberly Murray said an amendment to the Criminal Code is necessary. “It’s so traumatizing for survivors to say that residential schools were good things, that no bad things happened there,” she told the Canadian Press in an interview.
The report said Canada should refer itself to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. No thank you. Canada has its own justice system. It’s a model for the world and the place where such cases belong.
We need a clearly defined pathway that will allow the wounds to heal and bring about reconciliation sooner rather than later.