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The Apology: Historical Day for Indigenous Peoples and for all Canadians June 20, 2008
Dr. Jose Zarate PWRDF Staff
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized on June 11 to tens of thousands of Indigenous peoples who as children were removed from their families and sent to boarding schools. Harper rose on the floor of a packed House of Commons and condemned the decades-long federal effort to wipe out Indigenous cultures and assimilate Indigenous peoples into European-dominated society. "The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly," Harper declared. "We are sorry."
"The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history," said Harper, acknowledging the physical abuses and cultural damage they suffered during a century of forced assimilation at residential schools. “The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language,” Harper said.
The apology received a generally positive reaction from Indigenous leaders. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine declared that the occasion “testifies nothing less than the accomplishment of the impossible.” “For the generation that will follow us, we bear witness today… Never again will this House consider us the Indian problem just for being who we are,” he said, as tribal members cheered and beat a drum in the gallery. “Finally, we heard Canada say it is sorry.”
Mary Simon, an Inuit leader, told the House: "Let us not be lulled into believing that when the sun rises tomorrow, the pain and scars will be gone. They won't. But a new day has dawned."
The apology is widely recognized as a significant step for a government that had previously sought to limit its responsibility for the harm caused by its assimilation policy.
Several churches offered apologies in the late 1980s and 1990s (i.e. ACC in 1993), and the government’s head of Indian and Northern Affairs made a statement of reconciliation in 1998. A lawsuit settled in 2006 created a $1.9-billion compensation fund, and an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched June 1, 2008.
The apology provided an opportunity for all Canadians to learn about this sad chapter in Canadian history. Until Prime Minister Harper spoke, outlining the tragic history of the residential schools, many non-Indigenous Canadians might have seen the Indigenous peoples as a source of seemingly endless petitions and lawsuits and land claims. The Indigenous communities have not been valued as a people trying desperately to deal with a legacy of dependency promoted by a government policy whose goal was to "kill the Indian in the child." The negative consequences of that legacy remain a daily reality within aboriginal communities, taking the form of substance abuse, one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, and generations of families condemned to play out a history of abandonment and despair.
Some Indigenous peoples as individuals and communities in Canada have been working as partners with PWRDF. They are very aware of their challenges, and they also know the solutions. These Indigenous partners have designed their own projects, programs and/or strategies that aim to end the vicious cycle of dependency and despair. Some of these Indigenous partners are implementing culture and language preservation and retention initiatives.
Others are fostering awareness on the effects of FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome), as well as implementing prevention strategies on HIV/AIDS in their communities. Also, some of them are creating youth councils to provide appropriate counseling to youth and suicide prevention, as well as youth empowerment, education and training programs.
Lastly, three members of the board of directors of PWRDF are Indigenous partners and their role is to ensure the perspectives and interests of Indigenous communities are considered in decision-making processes. This partnership between Indigenous peoples and PWRDF based on mutual respect and trust has brought many successful stories.
As was stated by Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, in an interview with Anglican Video on Parliament Hill after Mr. Harper delivered the apology in the House of Commons June 11, “… this apology is seen as a beginning, and that it will be accompanied by actions that will significantly improve the quality of life for First Nations people in this land." Therefore, PWRDF will continue working with Indigenous partners towards the well-being of their communities.
