Editor:
The shocking news of the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous school children on the grounds of the Kamloops residential school is devastating. It is a clarion call to action NOW.
The colonial system that produced this policy of assimilation and the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples is reprehensible.
George’s Metis father as a young child was placed in a residential school in Winnipeg after his mother died in the early 1900s. According to family lore he begged his much older brother to get him out of there.
There are undoubtedly remains of many more Indigenous children buried and unidentified in other residential school sites across Canada.
Vigorous and expeditious investigations must be pursued at every one of them without delay to discover the truth.
A committee, or other appropriate method, must be established to unearth the facts, using the latest techniques, such as radar.
A crusading activist should lead it and a preliminary report must be provided to the government, parliament and the public within six months. It must not be placed in the government closet gathering dust and cobwebs alongside other shelved reports.
The activist must hold the government’s feet to the fire and pull no punches.
Appropriate remedial action must be taken and families informed and dealt with in a respectful and culturally appropriate manner.
George and Terry Goulet, Sechelt
