Tuesday, June 01, 2021
Since the original publication of this message
- more than 160 unmarked graves have been found in the former site of the Kuper Island Residential School in B.C.'s Southern Gulf Islands
- 751 unmarked graves have been found on the grounds of a former residential school in Marieval, Saskatchewan
- 182 bodies have been found in unmarked graves at a site close to a former residential school near Cranbrook, British Columbia
I want to again express my horror and sadness at this terrible discovery, and to urge those affected to avail themselves of the support and resources listed below. I am also unsettled knowing that with ongoing investigations at several of the 139 residential schools that operated across Canada, these announcements are far from over. We must not allow the scope of the horror resign us to complacency.
I encourage non-Indigenous AMAPCEO members to educate themselves on issues facing Indigenous people and to commit themselves to being allies to Indigenous people and communities – I recommend the thoughtful interview recently given by Tim Sim, the AMAPCEO Indigenous Circle Chair, to start. Only by reckoning with Canada’s past and present can we move toward a future of truth, healing, and equity.
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Like so many, I was heartbroken and horrified to learn about the bodies of 215 Indigenous children found in an unmarked grave at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.
I spoke to my friend, Tim Sim, the leader of the AMAPCEO Indigenous Circle, earlier this week about this horrible discovery. “Finding these children’s bodies is a tragedy, but for many Indigenous families, it is not a surprise,” he said. “They have had to live for decades with the knowledge that their children did not come home, without ever being given an official reason.”
Canadians must be willing to reckon with this ugly, shameful part of our history, and name it for what it is. We must also be willing to reckon with how recent it is. From about 1863 to 1996, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families by the government of Canada and placed into religious ‘schools’ with the intention of eradicating Indigenous culture. They were called residential schools then, but now we know to call it what it was: cultural genocide. The last residential school closed in 1996, and there are many survivors of the system, as well as their families, who are alive today and still living with the trauma of those experiences.
Finally, we must be willing to reckon with and work toward eliminating the ways colonial violence is still perpetuated today: racism and inequity, anti-Indigenous violence, the disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada, and the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the Canadian welfare system.
For those that have been impacted by the tragic news this weekend, there are several resources I encourage you to take advantage of:
- The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line, for former students and those affected;
- The Employee and Family Assistance Program, which is available to you and your family 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
- The OPS Wellness Portal, which provides wellness and mental resources to OPS members; and
- Hope for Wellness, which offers culturally relevant mental health support services for members of the Indigenous community.
I encourage AMAPCEO members to commit themselves to learning more about truth and reconciliation, Indigenous history, and the issues facing Indigenous people today, so that we can all become better allies to Indigenous people and communities across the country.
I thought I knew a lot about the history of residential schools in Canada, but I was incredibly affected by the presentation Dr. Cindy Blackstock gave at our own 2019 Annual Delegates’ Conference and discovered there was still so much for me to learn.
“Colonial violence is woven into the fabric of Canadian history,” said Sim. “It is Canada’s past and present, but it cannot be the future. It is only through education, hard conversations, and commitment that we can take steps toward a future of truth, healing, and equity.”
I know I will be engaging in that work and taking those steps. I hope you will join me.
Dave Bulmer
President & CEO