Debates of June 1st, 2021

Residential Schools

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Chair, this community made the very specific request that they needed to be in charge of this process. They needed their cultural traditions and laws respected, and they had to determine the path forward. The government needed to be there as a partner, in terms of support.

Clearly, I think we all recognize that sometimes governments get overly bureaucratic with how they proceed with moving forward. We have to be sensitive, and we have to take the lead from the communities. This community is providing enormous leadership, and they have an enormous burden in terms of taking care of these lost children. We need to support them.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo for her speech. I also want to remind the House that the horrific discovery was made in her riding. I therefore offer her and her constituents my deepest sympathies as a member of Parliament. I had the opportunity to visit Kamloops last summer, and I could really feel all the symbolism and importance of indigenous peoples in the city and in the region.

I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about the importance of discussing the rights of indigenous peoples on a nation-to-nation basis and showing up ready to have a genuine exchange and listen to first nations, without giving the impression that we know what they need better than they do. What does she think of that new tone?

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Chair, the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc have been leaders for many, many years in terms of how they have moved forward. To be quite frank, the federal government has gotten in the way of their progress, whether that has been economic or in other ways.

We do need to, as we have said tonight, make it real. Let us respect the jurisdiction. Let us provide the support they need. We are very proud of something called the Kamloops amendment. We are very proud of the work at the First Nations Taxation Commission, the economic development they have done, and the partnerships they have made in terms of how we move forward together. We need to continue that and really stay out of their way, but be supportive in terms of what needs to be done.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, once the largest residential school in Canada, was operated by the Catholic Church from 1893 to 1969.

The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo referred to the TRC's calls to action. In referencing call to action 74, which calls on the government to work with churches and aboriginal communities to inform the families, it has been widely reported that indigenous leaders and advocates are calling on the Roman Catholic Church to apologize and take responsibility for the atrocities committed against the children, families and communities by the residential school system.

Will this member join these indigenous leaders and many others, including myself, in calling on the Roman Catholic Church to finally and formally apologize for its role in the residential school system in Canada?

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Chair, it was about three years ago that Parliament passed a motion asking for a papal apology and, much to our disappointment, that has not happened. We know that there have been other apologies that have been given.

I do join my colleague in calling for this apology. It is part of the healing. It is part of the closure, and it is another important call to action.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, I rise this evening not as the critic for Crown—indigenous relations, not as a member of Parliament, but as a father horrified by the tragic discovery in Kamloops of the 215 children buried and forgotten at a residential school in Tk’emlúps territory. I want to acknowledge the deep sadness and grief that all indigenous peoples and survivors of residential schools are experiencing at this time and wish to express my deepest sympathies to the first nation itself, and those surrounding indigenous communities who are sharing in this tragedy.

A new page is being written on the dark shameful narrative that is the Canadian residential school legacy, a legacy that has had a profoundly lasting and damaging impact on indigenous families, culture, heritage and language. While communities and families grapple with this unthinkable revelation, it is time for all of us to come together and aid in the healing process.

This must be more than just words. I cannot blame indigenous leaders and communities who are listening to us tonight, wondering if our sentiments are just that, just words. It is time to act, and that time was actually long ago. That includes all governments, not just this one. We need to put the resources in place to protect, honour and identify these children, and to find and bring home all the lost children throughout Canada.

Last night, the Conservative Party sent a letter to the government, respectfully recommending that the following actions be taken.

First, the development of a comprehensive plan to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action 71 through 76 by July 1 of this year. The time for action is now.

Second, to put in place enough funding to investigate all former residential schools in Canada where unmarked graves exist, including the site where 215 children have already been discovered. I understand that only three of the 160 acres have been checked at the Kamloops location and the ramifications of that are too dreadful to even contemplate.

Third, ensure that proper resources are allocated for communities to commemorate and honour any individuals discovered through the investigation, according to the wishes of their next of kin. This must be done in consultation with the leadership of indigenous communities, to safeguard their wishes and to protect cultural practices.

Last, we must never forget what happened here. We call on the government to develop a detailed and thorough set of resources to educate Canadians of all ages of this tragic history of residential schools in Canada. I am sure all sides of this place will have recommendations, and I am sure the government will also table its actions and what it intends to move forward with. I look forward to seeing those details. As I mentioned, I offer my sincere assistance to the government in this regard.

Following the historic apology to residential schools, their students, their families and communities for Canada's role in the operation of the schools by former prime minister Stephen Harper, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada began the hard work and dedication of building public awareness about residential schools and to bring forward 94 recommendations to all levels of government, public and private institutions, and religious organizations. The goal of the commission's findings were to foster reconciliation, understanding and respect. The final report of the TRC helped to explain this dark chapter in Canadian history and the calls to action addressed the legacy of residential schools and advanced the process of reconciliation.

I thank the commission for its very hard work, but the torch has been passed. We need to address the outstanding recommendations in that report. They need to be addressed quickly so that we can move forward on the road to true reconciliation with Canada's indigenous peoples.

Manny Jules, the former chief of that first nation and survivor of the Kamloops residential school, said recently that everyone knew there were children buried on that site. He even went on to say that those children were also in unmarked graves in other places across Canada. He is demanding action, not just words. Indigenous people want action, not words, to find these lost children.

I implore the government to take action right now to fund and support the investigation of all residential schools in Canada, and bring those children home.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Madam Chair, I thank my friend across the way for his speech and for his work on this file.

The member talked about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action. Earlier tonight, the Leader of the Opposition was asked about call to action 43, which calls on the federal government to adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

I think all of us in the House can agree that we cannot pick and choose from the recommendations which ones we should implement. I am wondering if the member opposite would work with his Conservative colleagues in the Senate to ensure that this legislation does get passed, and gets passed quickly.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, I appreciate the question from my friend from Oakville North—Burlington.

Conservatives have said many times that they support reconciliation, including financial reconciliation. They also support the spirit of UNDRIP. What happened at the committee process with Bill C-15 was that the opposition parties were amplifying the voices of first nations leaders themselves. They were the ones who showed up at committee expressing concerns in regard to that bill, specifically about free, prior and informed consent and exactly what that means, not just for industry but for the way of life as well, the certainty that it provides.

Again, these were not just voices of Conservative Party members; these were the voices of the indigenous communities themselves, trying to get their voices to the government. That is what we were trying to do.

As I have said many times, we support reconciliation. We support the spirit of UNDRIP. We were looking to amplify the voices of those on the ground and those first nations communities concerned about Bill C-15.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank the member for his very empathetic presentation. We can feel the weight of his experience, and we can see that he is offering solutions and recommendations, for which I am particularly grateful to him.

I would like to ask him how we can help this community mourn these children and what actions we can take, while, of course, fully respecting indigenous traditions.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, I thank my friend for that very meaningful question.

As my friend from Kamloops mentioned in her speech, listening to those people on the ground, listening to the communities and following their direction on how to proceed, that is what the communities need. The government owes that to them. That is how we are going to at least start to move forward with this.

The federal government needs to work as a partner, but also listen to and take action on the recommendations and the suggestions it is hearing from the first nations community.

[Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Madam Chair, as the member was speaking, although he did say some nice words, I could not help but reconcile words and action. The irony, the complete irony of hearing heartfelt speeches from Conservatives—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Apologies, I have to interrupt the hon. member. We need the hon. member to put on her headset for the interpretation. We will stop the clock. We will have to go to another questioner.

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Chair, I just want to comment on something that another member said earlier, noting that the residential school in Kamloops had been run by a Catholic entity.

Obviously for those of us who are Catholic, it is deeply painful to see the way in which the principles of our church, the values of our church, were betrayed by people who abused children in that context.

I also want to put on the record that Pope Benedict, the last pope, did apologize in 2009 to indigenous leaders. I know there is a request for a pope to apologize on Canadian soil, and that has not happened yet. Of course, the pope has not been to Canada since the TRC made that request. I suspect the issue would be addressed in the future, in a papal visit.

However, it is important to put on the record that this apology has been put forward by the pope, as well as all the Catholic entities involved, and that all of us, people of faith and legislators, need to do all we can to work together to promote reconciliation.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, I do agree that we all have to work together on reconciliation. I do not think anyone believes this was anything but a very dark time in Canadian history and not something any of us could be proud of.

I did stand in support of that motion in the previous Parliament to ask that the Catholic Church apologize for its role in the residential schools in Canada, and that was something I was pleased to support because it was long overdue.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Yukon.

I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking from the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation from my home in Oakville.

My thoughts are with all indigenous families as they mourn. Like all Canadians, I am devastated by the horrifying news from British Columbia, where the remains of 215 children buried at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School were discovered. This is not news to indigenous peoples in Canada. My friend, the member for Northwest Territories, shared with me that there is a mission graveyard in his small community. Half of those buried there are children from the local residential school.

Many years ago, the Catholic Church removed the crosses, dug up the priests, nuns and brothers and moved them to a new graveyard. Then it plowed over the old cemetery and grew potatoes there. In the early 1900s, the community, working with elders, hired specialists to locate the bodies of the children buried there, reclaimed their names, remembered their ages and erected a monument. I am ashamed to say that I did not know this story, and I suspect that most Canadians do not know these stories.

Families deserve closure. Our government is committed to supporting survivors, the families as well as communities, to locate and memorialize children who were killed because they were forced to attend residential schools.

We invite indigenous communities to seek federal support, which is available, to conduct radar scans on other residential school sites to confirm if lost children are buried there.

The history of residential schools was not taught when I was a student. When I was first elected, I held a public screening of the documentary We Were Children. A former MP attended and said he wished he had known this history when he served in Parliament in the 1980s.

Duncan Campbell Scott, deputy superintendent of Indian Affairs in 1910, said of residential schools, “It is readily acknowledged that Indian children...die at a much higher rate than in their villages. But this alone does not justify a change in the policy of this Department, which is being geared towards the final solution of our Indian Problem.”

This month during #IndigenousReads, I am encouraging my community to read 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph. It is important to confront our past to learn what is true in order to move forward on the path of reconciliation.

Near my home, the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School operated in Brantford from 1828 to 1970. It served as a school for first nations children from Six Nations, as well as other communities throughout Ontario and Quebec. Just today, Six Nations of the Grand River has asked the federal government to help it search its grounds.

The Save the Evidence project from the Woodland Cultural Centre is working to restore the former Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School into a historical site and educational resource. Projects like this that are indigenous-led are vital for educating the public about our past and for understanding the realities of indigenous peoples in Canada.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made 94 calls to action. If Canadians have not already read them, they should do so. Calls 71 to 76 deal with the missing children and burial information.

One of the honorary witnesses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a friend of mine who survived the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. We have talked about what Canada can do as we implement the recommendations of the TRC. Call to action 81 calls for a residential schools national monument in Ottawa to honour survivors and all children who were lost to their families and communities.

Now is the time to take action on this. Our government has worked to build a more equitable relationship with indigenous peoples based on partnership and honesty. We have introduced legislation to establish a national day for truth and reconciliation, to amend the oath of citizenship and to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We are working with indigenous leadership and communities to implement legislation that affirms and recognizes indigenous peoples' jurisdiction over child and family services to reduce the number of indigenous children in care. We are committed to continuing to take action to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance reconciliation across Canada.

I pray for the stolen little souls and I mourn their loss.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Chair, I have been listening to the debate, and what I feel is shame. We have been talking about this for years. We have the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which spent years criss-crossing Canada, gathering testimony from thousands of people who said that what happened at residential schools in Canada over the past 150 years was a scandal. Here we are again this evening talking about various possibilities.

I did not like the fact that my colleague said Canadians would have to read the report. It is not up to Canadians to read the report. It is up to the Government of Canada. The government is the one that has to implement the action plan and provide the resources to make that happen. That is what it has to do.

I have a simple question for my colleague. Does she acknowledge that the way indigenous individuals and indigenous children were treated in residential schools over a period of 150 years was a bona fide genocide?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Chair, with all due respect to my colleague, Canadians do need to read the report. As well, I would say that of the 76 calls to action that are under federal or joint federal responsibility, 80% of them are either finished or under way.

However, it is not only government that needs to read that report. All Canadians need to read the report, and all Canadians need to be aware of the what the member talked about, the shame of what has happened. I completely agree with him on that.

As I said in my speech, Canadians are surprised by what was found in Kamloops, but indigenous peoples were not.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, the parliamentary secretary spoke about closure and the need for closure. In the wake of this horrific situation, we also, of course, need to honour the children. However, in order to move forward on closure and to honour the children and the lives that have been lost, we must also accept, acknowledge and admit that this was genocide.

Will the member call this a genocide, and not a cultural genocide, but genocide as defined by the UN genocide convention?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Chair, several years ago, I was in Rwanda and visited the museum that documented the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and I saw pictures of children on the wall who had been massacred during that genocide.

Over the weekend, the faces of those children came back to me as I thought of those 215 children in our country of Canada. I kept asking myself how humanity could continue to treat children like garbage and feel that they were disposable.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, to my hon. colleague and parliamentary secretary, it is a hard thing to acknowledge as settler culture Canadians that our entire society has been built on dispossessing indigenous peoples of their lands. The residential school system was part of the institutionalized racism and genocide to break down the culture, the societies and civilizations that were here before European settlers.

I am wondering if the hon. member would return to the question, and I know it is a tough question, that was just asked by the member for Vancouver East. Can we admit that we are the beneficiaries of a genocide?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Chair, when we think about how our country was founded, we see it was founded on racism, and it was founded on colonialism. As a result, indigenous peoples not only had to deal with this 150 years ago but also continue to deal with it today. We see systemic racism in policing. We see systemic racism in our health care system in Canada. Often we look south of the border and seem to think that we are better than people who live in the United States, and we are not.

The racism and colonialism that continues to exist in Canada is unacceptable. All Canadians have to take responsibility for that, and all of us have to take action to make sure that we end the racism and colonialism that continues to exist today.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency)]

Madam Chair, I come to you from the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.

I want to start with a statement I made on social media.

The magnitude of this horrific tragedy initially left me numb. So many children were lost and so many families are grieving. So many emotions of heartbreak are breaking out again. Even if it were only one child, for that family it would be an infinite lifetime of sorrow.

As I was at a memorial of shoes with Angus Sidney, and on a walk yesterday, I and many others imagined what would happen if this were our own children. How could any parent bear such an incalculable pain?

At yesterday's event, after chief after chief expressed their deep sorrow, it was uplifting to hear them, led by Doris Bill, talk about a path forward and reconciliation. Nothing can undo these devastating events, but we in the Government of Canada, under whose authority residential schools were created and maintained, need to do everything in our power to bring these children, and those yet to be found, home to their families.

As well, ongoing support for indigenous-created healing is paramount. The highest priority must be given to continuing to work intensively with families of victims, with indigenous women's groups such as those in Yukon leading the country, and with other indigenous leaders and organizations across Canada to bring all the TRC calls to action to fruition. We can all continually work with those whose hearts are not yet in the same place as the hearts of the many who yesterday attended the Yukon gathering founded in love.

I want to now go over what, in this brief time of a couple of days, at least some of my constituents are asking for or demanding. Almost everyone who contacted me wanted to make sure that all the sites of residential schools in Canada would be searched for all potential graves. They understand that this needs to be indigenous-led. It needs to be as the families want and it needs to be culturally appropriate. They want all the calls to action of the TRC, the parts the federal government is responsible for, to be fully implemented, especially numbers 74 to 76 related to this event.

Investigations must occur and there must be accountability. They want Canadians to educate themselves and acknowledge these dark times in our history. One person said it is not a dark chapter of history, but a foundation of the unjust way that Canada was peopled. They want St. Anne's Indian Residential School survivors and those damaged by insufficient child welfare to be fully funded.

They have said that there need to be big closure ceremonies, clean water and other good conditions, as well as a national day of mourning. One person provided me a list of some terrible, specific, horrible crimes on specific children. The individuals have not been held to account, and it makes healing under those conditions difficult, if possible at all.

In our small city of Whitehorse, we had a spontaneous memorial set up on the steps of the Catholic church where over 400 pairs of children's shoes just appeared. At the invitation of Angus Sidney, I slept on those steps all night with him to honour those young lives that ended all too soon. The next day, there was a walk of thousands of Yukoners taking these shoes to display around a sacred fire that continues to burn right now. The procession was silent except for the heartbeat of the drums. At the fire, a number of chiefs spoke of tragedy and of sadness, but also of true leaders, of a path forward and of reconciliation.

Because this deplorable part of our history was not taught for the longest time in our schools, only after this tragic episode are many Canadians finding out about these devastating deaths. I commend all those across the country who have organized these events. I commend all indigenous leaders, and the tens of thousands of Canadians who turned up at the sad ceremonies across the country, for opening their hearts to the difficult steps we all must take to try to achieve reconciliation that will bring peace to all and a path forward together.

Marsi.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Yukon for his intervention. It is clear that he cares deeply about this evening's debate, which I hope will spur action and progress. I hope this evening will be as constructive as possible, so that we can undertake a nation-to-nation dialogue with indigenous peoples and communities with the utmost respect.

The budget allocated $33.8 million to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action 71 to 78. Unfortunately, that money does not appear to have made it to where it is needed.

Just as I am talking about re-establishing dialogue, we are learning that the Native Women's Association of Canada has lost confidence in the federal government and has decided to implement the recommendations of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls itself.

I would like to know what my colleague thinks. Can we change our approach? Can we take action? Can we get the money to where it is needed? Can we implement the recommendations of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls?

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Madam Chair, the member said something I was really glad to hear, which is that this night should be for constructive debate on how we can move forward in a positive way and deal with such a tragic situation. The healing requires not a short time but, for some, a lifetime. She also made the very important point that it needs to be a discussion with indigenous people because they have to be led.

I understand that it takes time to go to the various sites and uncover potential graves. Everything has to be done after consultation with the families. They want it done in a culturally sensitive way and in discussion with indigenous people. That is why I think some of the $33 million related to calls to action 74 to 76 has not been finished. It is making sure it is done in the right way, but I have every confidence that the funding necessary to complete all these actions, many of the actions I outlined and in the TRC recommendations, will be forthcoming as it is needed.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Chair, my colleague is an experienced parliamentarian. Will he commit tonight to doing everything he can to make sure that as communities, whether Tk'emlúps or the other 139 or 138 communities, are ready to move forward, the dollars flow in a way that is responsive and does not get bogged down in bureaucratic red tape? In some cases, the communities are ready to move forward.

Does he commit tonight to doing what he can to facilitate things moving forward?