I have to say that I didn't understand why it took so long, personally. There is a woman in my riding in Mississauga, which is a very urban area, who is a professor of aboriginal studies. She told me that her mother was in a residential school and was quite significantly and negatively affected by that experience. Her whole family was. She said that the apology really did help start the healing process; that there's a long way to go, but that she was glad it had happened.
