To the Expositor:
Residential schools were an integral part of a conscious policy of cultural genocide against the country’s Indigenous population, according to a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report in 2015.
The remains of 215 children, some of whom were believed to have been as young as three years old, were discovered in the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Most are thought to have been undocumented.
This is it for me! If it takes the bodies of 215 little kids—taken away from their families and dying alone—to hit Canadians over the head, so be it. No more talk. No more delays by governments dealing with land claims and children’s compensation and fresh drinking water on reserves.
We have to address our past and deal with it. Our government has to do the right thing. Otherwise no Canadian anywhere in the world should be able to hold their head up high.
Cindy Cook
Bay of Islands resident
