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Prime minister apologizes to native Canadians
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-12 08:41 "Never again will this House consider us an Indian problem for just being who we are," Fontaine said. "We heard the government of Canada take full responsibility." He said the apology will go a long way toward repairing the relationship between aboriginals and the rest of Canada. The federal government earlier admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native languages and losing touch with their parents and customs. In 1998, Canada's former Indian affairs minister Jane Stewart expressed "profound regret" for the establishment of the schools. But Indians didn't consider that apology sufficient because it didn't address the policy of assimilation and or deal with the abuses. That legacy of abuse and isolation has been cited by Indian leaders as the root cause of epidemic rates of alcoholism and drug addiction on reservations. Fontaine was one of the first to go public with his past experiences of physical and sexual abuse. Willie Blackwater, who said he was repeatedly raped and beaten by a dorm supervisor when he was 9 years old, called the apology a pivotal moment in his life. "I think this is a start of a long healing relationship," Blackwater said. Michael Cachagee, president of the National Residential School Survivors' Society, said it was a sincere apology. "It was a good day for Canada." The apology comes months after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a similar gesture to the so-called Stolen Generations — thousands of Aborigines forcibly taken from their families as children under assimilation policies that lasted from 1910 to 1970. But Canada has gone a step farther, offering those who were taken from their families compensation for the years they attended the residential schools. The offer was part of a lawsuit settlement. A truth and reconciliation commission will also examine government policy and take testimony from survivors. The goal is to give survivors a forum to tell their stories and educate Canadians about a grim period in the country's history. |
