to residential school survivors

Mr. Speaker, I have a statement for the House.

Yesterday the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, made a formal apology to the survivors of residential schools, and to the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. He apologized for the great wrong that was done by forcibly removing children from their homes, placing them beyond the protection and guidance of their families, and robbing them of their languages and culture.

The simple words, “We are sorry,” mark an important moment in our nation’s history. As National Chief Phil Fontaine said yesterday from the floor of the House of Commons, they open the possibility of a new relationship with the first peoples of Canada and a “common road of hope” for our shared future.

With those words of apology and regret, a historic injustice has been acknowledged, and the pain and suffering of the thousands of Canadians who were placed in residential schools has been recognized – from the very Chamber in which, generations ago, the policy of forced assimilation of Aboriginal peoples was conceived and legislated.

Yesterday, that policy was formally repudiated.

The words “never again” were spoken by the Prime Minister on behalf of all Canadians, and echoed by Chief Fontaine, on behalf of Canada’s First Nations, President Chartier on behalf of the Metis people, President Mary Simon on behalf of the Inuit people, President Beverly Jacobs on behalf of the Native Women’s Association and Patrick Brazeau on behalf of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

I commend the Prime Minister and the Leaders of all parties in our national Parliament for joining in the apology yesterday. In particular I wish to commend Chief Fontaine for the dignity of his response and the moving way in which he, as a survivor of residential schools, continues to lead on the path to healing and reconciliation.

Mr. Speaker, there are many thousands of Manitobans, including members of this Chamber, who experienced the pain of being separated from their families and placed in institutions that sought to change their identity – their very sense of who they are, where they came from, where they belonged.

As one who did not experience it, I simply cannot imagine the pain of children who were taken from their homes at the age of 5 or 6 years old. As a parent, I cannot imagine the pain their parents experienced, to have their children taken away from them and to be powerless to stop it.

It is due to the resilience of the survivors of residential schools and their communities that the goal of forced assimilation was not achieved. Indeed, it is a tribute to the strength of the First Nations, the Metis and the Inuit peoples, that they have not only preserved their culture but assert it today with a renewed spirit and sense of pride.

But the damage done by the residential schools is beyond calculation. Some children did not survive the experience. Many suffered physical and sexual abuse. For all survivors, and for whatever benefits they received from their schooling, there are, as Chief Fontaine said, “scars on the soul” that they have had to carry their entire lives.

In breaking the vital connection children had to their parents and traditions, the residential schools took away the ability of many survivors to feel secure in their identity, to pass on their own traditions to their children, and to connect again with families and communities.

The impacts continue to be felt within Aboriginal communities, and add to the enormity of this injustice. The residential schools have been a major and continuing cause of individual tragedies – of addictions, suicides and family breakdown.

Like many Canadians, I became aware of this injustice only as I grew older. This was not part of the history we were taught in school.

It was missing from our history books, just like the story of Chief Peguis’s rescue of the Selkirk settlers and the tragic relocation of the Peguis community. Just like the contributions of Louis Riel and the Metis people to the founding of our province. And just like the adoption of Aboriginal children out of Manitoba in more recent decades – a sad chapter in our province’s history that bears many of the hallmarks of the residential schools policy.

As a boy growing up in Manitoba I knew none of these things.

I remember playing hockey against boys who attended one of the residential schools in Winnipeg – just blocks away from the school I attended. To me they were just another team of boys my own age. I thought they or their families must have made the choice to send them from their communities to attend school in Winnipeg.

I had no idea of the pain they were experiencing or the fact that virtually everything that contributed to my own sense of well-being and security at that time – the home life and family traditions I took for granted – had been taken from them.

It was with a growing sense of shame that I began to appreciate the wrong that was done – and to reflect on the devaluation of Aboriginal culture that lay behind the policy of assimilation.

Over the years, as I have listened to aboriginal leaders and elders and visited aboriginal communities throughout Manitoba, I have come to see more directly the devastating impact of residential schools. I have also been humbled to witness the untiring work of elders and leaders to bring healing to the survivors, their families and their communities.

As so often in history, it is not the actions of those who seek to dominate other peoples, but the resistance to domination, which speaks to the strength of the human spirit and gives us hope and inspiration for the future.

The apologies heard yesterday mark an important step that all Canadians must take in coming to terms with this chapter in our history. This is the moment of acknowledgement that begins a path towards reconciliation.

We know, however, that reconciliation is a matter of actions not words.

The establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an important step to further the dialogue about residential schools and expand our citizens’ awareness of what happened. Similarly, the building of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will serve to promote historical understanding, and point the way to a stronger recognition of human rights – including aboriginal rights – throughout Canada.

And we will ensure, Mr. Speaker, that Aboriginal youth from remote communities will have the opportunity to come to Winnipeg and visit the Human Rights Museum.

At the same time, I want to say the most effective way to bring about a historic reconciliation in Manitoba and our nation is to rededicate ourselves – as elected leaders, as citizens, as an entire province – to closing the gap that exists between the well-being of aboriginal and non-aboriginal citizens.

We must resolve to address the serious health and housing needs in Aboriginal communities. We must expand educational opportunities for Aboriginal youth and commit to raise the level of school success and post-secondary achievement. We must commit to increase the participation of Aboriginal citizens in our economy. And we must state that this is something that we will do in partnership with Aboriginal peoples, and in a spirit of respect and openness.

Action is the only way we can remain true to what was said and felt in the House of Commons yesterday.

Aboriginal communities and their leadership have sought and patiently waited for that pledge of partnership. For our elders in Manitoba, the residential schools are not part of the past: the 15 schools in our province shaped the lives of five generations of aboriginal citizens. The impact of that experience is something that families and communities deal with every day. But elders have also taught us to keep faith in the spirit that endures in their people and communities, and to look with hope towards the future.

Yesterday, Manitoba Grand Chief Ron Evans gathered in Winnipeg with over 1,000 people to watch the historic apology. A gathering was also hosted by the President David Chartrand and the Manitoba Metis Federation, and similar events took place in band councils and community halls across Manitoba.

Today we are joined by the Grand Chief, by President Chartrand, and by leaders, elders and residential school survivors from all across Manitoba.

I want to say to those who are with us today that we respect the dignity with which you have borne the impacts of the residential experience. We pledge not just words, but actions to ensure the future for Aboriginal people in Manitoba is based on partnership, respect, and a determination that the rich culture of all communities is allowed to survive and flourish.

Although the provincial government did not establish the residential school system, we must acknowledge that members of this Chamber sat silent while Manitoba children were taken from their homes and deprived of their culture. Child welfare agencies in Manitoba also removed Aboriginal children from their culture and country.

On behalf of present and past members of this Legislature, from all parties, I want to offer a sincere apology for the pain inflicted on generations of our citizens.

For that, I am deeply sorry.