Access to Justice: Residential schools must be part of Canada’s nation-building narrative | Tricia Logan – The Lawyer’s Daily

September 02, 2021

I have been invited to be a contributor to the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin’s Access to Justice column in The Lawyer’s Daily. I am sharing my perspective on the new era we are entering in our relationship to the Indian residential school system in Canada.

On May 27, 2021, Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation publicly released the results of a preliminary report on an investigation of the unmarked, mass grave located near the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Knowledge of the burials near the school apple orchard and school grounds have been known to the survivors, their families and the surrounding communities since the time that the school was in operation. What emerged as news and a recent “discovery” was the accompanying ground penetrating radar (GPR) reports, confirming a great deal of what the community already knew about the number of children who were buried in unmarked or mass graves. After that report, First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada contributed stories, evidence and information gathered from GPR and archaeological investigations to an emerging, changing dialogue in Canada. Communities have initiated and have also continued or increased investigations into former sites of residential schools across Canada.

Read More: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/29441/access-to-justice-residential-schools-must-be-part-of-canada-s-nation-building-narrative-tricia-logan