“Residential school survivor Toby Obed celebrates the class-action settlement reached with the federal government, outside Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John's in May of 2016.” (Retrieved from www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/residential-school-apology-labrador-this-week-1.4410759).
Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
In August 2017, it was announced that Trudeau would extend an apology to Indigenous survivors and communities in Newfoundland and Labrador for the harm inflicted by the government during the Residential Schools programs. [1]
In 2008, then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended an apology to Indigenous people in Canada for the government’s infliction of residential schools; but, the apology excluded those affected in Newfoundland and Labrador.[2] This exclusion was based on the federal government’s belief that the residential school program in the area was not closely connected enough to the federal program as a whole.[3]
This exclusion was not only in terms of words in the apology itself, but also the federal government’s compensation of those individuals abused and negatively affected by the schools themselves. Indigenous survivors in Newfoundland and Labrador could not access the steps towards healing that the rest of the Indigenous survivors across Canada could.[4]
The Indigenous communities in question, lawyers, and the courts have slowly begun to remedy this wrong. Some survivors endured the legal battle that lasted nine years, which argued that the federal government owed the same duty to the province once Newfoundland and Labrador joined Confederation in 1949.[5] But while some have lived to see the litigation through to a settlement in May 2016, and to hear the current Prime Minister apologize today (November 24, 2017), over 100 residential school survivors have already passed while waiting for these injustices to be corrected.[6]
The apology and ceremony will happen today (November 24, 2017) in Happy Valley Goose Bay, Newfoundland. There was care taken to the choosing of the venue to allow enough people to attend and for the emotions of the victims and affected community. There will be mental health services on-site to ensure any trauma caused is managed and remedied.[7]
As the apology has been planned since at least August of this year, survivors have been able to prepare themselves mentally and emotionally. Some survivors see the apology as purely political, but are still looking forward to the community gathering and meeting up with old friends.[8] They have had to endure the ongoing trauma from their time at residential schools or “dorms”, and for some, this may help to further the healing process.
Until next time,
Team ReconciliAction YEG
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[1] The Canadian Press, “Trudeau to apologize for residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador”, CBC News (10 August 2017), online: <www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/trudeau-apology-residential-schools-labrador-1.4242617>.
[2] Sue Bailey, “Justin Trudeau To Apologize To Former Newfoundland And Labrador Residential School Students”, Huffington Post (10 August 2017), online: <www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/08/10/justin-trudeau-to-apologize-to-former-newfoundland-and-labrador_a_23074081/>.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] “Residential school survivor ‘elated’ by settlement talks”, CBC News (2 February 2016), online: <www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/residential-schools-newfoundland-labrador-lawsuit-adjourned-reaction-1.3430591>.
[7] Jacob Barker, “Trudeau will apologize to Newfoundland and Labrador residential school survivors on Friday”, CBC News (20 November 2017), online: <www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/residential-school-apology-labrador-this-week-1.4410759>.
[8] Ibid.
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