Trudeau promises more support for Indigenous Peoples after unmarked graves found

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is “appalled” at the “shameful policy” that ripped Indigenous children from their families and placed them in residential schools – a policy that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission found in 2015 amounted to a “cultural genocide.”

Trudeau offered sombre words today about the remains of 215 children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, calling it “heartbreaking news.”

“These were children who deserved to be happy. Most of all, they deserved to be safe,” he said.

“As a dad, I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have my kids taken away from me and as Prime Minister, I am appalled by the shameful policy that stole Indigenous children from their communities.”

He says he plans to speak with his three cabinet ministers who oversee Indigenous policy and funding on what steps must be done to support survivors, families and Indigenous Peoples.

Federal New Democrats are calling for an emergency debate in the House of Commons on the grisly discovery in British Columbia.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the government has not done enough to implement the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which spent years studying the government-sponsored, church-run institutions.

“The Liberal government can’t, on one hand, grieve this horrible tragedy, this horrible loss, while they are still taking Indigenous kids to court, while they’re still taking survivors of residential schools to court,” said Singh.

“So, we are calling on Justin Trudeau to stop taking Indigenous kids to court.”

Charlottetown council votes to remove statue of Sir John A. Macdonald

Charlottetown city council has voted to permanently remove a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald from a downtown intersection as a response to recent revelations about Canada’s residential school system.

The decision today follows a vigil earlier in the day where demonstrators placed 215 pairs of shoes next to the statue of Macdonald, whose government introduced the residential school system in 1883.

A number of the commission’s calls to action focus on the horrors inflicted on children and made recommendations on how governments, justice systems and church officials should try to locate, name and commemorate those who died.

The shoes were in memory of the 215 children whose remains were recently discovered at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

Charlottetown council had been planning to improve signage and add an Indigenous figure to the Macdonald statue but decided to remove it entirely as a result of the public outcry.