Why reconciliation? Understanding the ugly legacy of residential schools – The Globe and Mail

Indigenous people are the fastest growing population in Canada, and Justice Murray Sinclair, who sits on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, believes it’s important for Canadians to familiarize themselves with their story. “The first and most important step in establishing a good relationship is to be open to information about that person and be willing to share,” he has said.

With that in mind, we need to go back to 1883, the year our federal government of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald passed a law to officially establish a system of residential schools. One of Macdonald’s ministers, Hector-Louis Langevin, is quoted as saying,”In order to educate the children properly we must separate them from their families. Some people may say that this is hard but if we want to civilize them we must do that.”

More than 139 residential schools operated between the 1800s and 1996, when the last one was closed. More than 150,000 Indigenous children – First Nations, Inuit and Métis – attended these schools. Many of those were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, as well as harsh conditions. More than 6,000 children are estimated to have died in residential schools. An Indigenous child in a residential school had a higher risk of dying than a Canadian soldier during the Second World War.

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