Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Residential Schools were an incredibly harmful government policy that was Canada’s reality and that the Federal government of today apologizes for it.
Today he apologized to Canada’s Indigenous populations, specifically the Cowessess First Nation which recently confirmed 751 unmarked graves at the Marieval Indian Residential School
“We are sorry – it was something that we cannot undo in the past, but we can pledge ourselves every day to fix in the present and into the future,” said Trudeau. “And that means recognizing the harms, the impacts, the inter-generational trauma – the cycles of challenges that far too many indigenous peoples face in this country, because of actions that the Federal government and other partners deliberately and willingly undertook.”
The Federal government has since provided the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous First Nations $4.9 million to search for burial sites.
With Canada day coming up next week, Trudeau says a lot of people will be reflecting on reconciliation.