Mr. Speaker, I have really struggled to come up with the appropriate words for this speech.
I want to ask my colleagues if they believe us now. Can they hear us now? As it has been said, for those who have been listening, this should come as no surprise. Survivors and families have been telling their stories for so long, and the news of the remains of the 215 children found in a mass grave at the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation site of the former residential school does not come as a surprise to those of us who have been listening.
As a father of four, this rips my heart out. It impacts my family, as my wife and children are Tsilhqot'in, from the Esdilagh First Nation. It also impacts the friends I grew up with. I grew up in the community of Williams Lake, and St. Joseph's Mission was just down the road. We played there.
I have spoken so many times in the House about this, and I have implored us, as parliamentarians, to put aside our partisan ways and focus on the issues that matter. I have talked about reconciliation being just a buzzword. Politicians stand up, dab at fake tears and say they are truly committed, yet we have boil water advisories throughout our nation and suicide epidemics in our first nation communities that go unchecked.
The residential school program was set up to drive the native out of over 150,000 first nations, Inuit and Métis children. Thousands did not come home. Imagine being a parent and knowing this. I ask my colleagues if they now understand some of the challenges we see within our first nation communities. There is a lot of “this government did this” and “that government did that.” It is enough. The blame goes to all of us, including or current Parliament.
Apparently there has been an awakening, and Canadians are rightfully angry. Imagine the burden, trauma, grief and anger of the survivors and the families of the lost and missing who have tried to share their stories. Imagine the grief and the trauma of Phyllis Webstad, the founder of Orange Shirt Day, who has heard and gathered these stories and has been such a groundbreaker on this.
They have carried this for so long. As a nation, we must stand together with these families and communities. We must bring these children home. We must bring closure to the families. Only then can the healing process begin.
We must lift them up, hold them in our hearts and never ever forget the over 150,000 children who went through the residential school program and the thousands who did not come home. There are over 139 residential school sites, and I will tell members this: The pain is going to continue, because we are only just awakening to the tragedy, the crime, that so many have been trying to tell through their stories for so long.