Speech by TRC Chairperson, the Honourable Justice Murray ...

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Your Excellencies, expert members of the Permanent Forum,distinguished elders, ladies and gentlemen. Our delegation wishes tobegin by thanking and honouring the Haudenoshaunee, the traditionalcaretakers of these territories.I am Justice Murray Sinclair, Chairperson of the Truth andReconciliation Commission of Canada. I am here with my fellowCommissioners Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild representingCanada’s Truth Commission.Nous sommes reconnaissants d'avoir l'occasion d'être avec vousaujourd'hui pour cette importante rencontre. (We appreciate the opportunity tomeet with you on this important occasion.)We are here to talk to you today about Canada’s experience withboarding schools – or residential schools as we call them. We are hereto talk about shaping who we are as individuals, as communities, ascultures, and as nations. We are also going to talk about the role that theinternational community can play in the outcome of those issues.Truth Commissions have functioned with varying degrees of success,around the world for many years. Those Commissions have come aboutprimarily, because an act or policy of a government caused significantharm to its people, and such harm had to be acknowledged andaddressed.2
Canada has experienced such harm for more than 150 years. During thattime, Canada enforced a racist policy of assimilation against IndigenousPeoples through the use of boarding schools. The belief was thatIndigenous Peoples were inferior and uncivilized and with the assistanceof Church organizations, they could be Christianized, and thereforebecome civilized and equal.The Canadian government stated early on, that, through their policy ofassmiliation, within a century, Indian people would cease to exist.The Government targeted children - the most vulnerable. Schoolsbecame the government’s vehicle to enforce this process. The thinkingof the day was to “Kill the Indian in the Child” so that within a fewgenerations, Indigenous cultures, beliefs, languages, and distinctidentities would be extinguished.For roughly seven generations nearly every Indigenous child in Canadawas sent to a residential school. They were taken from their families,tribes and communities, and forced to live in those institutions ofassimilation.3
Page 1: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Page 5 and 6: Through it all, Indigenous parents
Page 7 and 8: Canada and the churches were sued.
Page 9 and 10: Mainstream Canada sees the dysfunct
Page 11 and 12: They have the right to know where t
Page 13: We point to and acknowledge that th

Speech by TRC Chairperson, the Honourable Justice Murray ...

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