'Help bring peace': Sask. government pledges $2M to help search for residential school burial sites
The search for unmarked burial sites at residential schools is getting support from the Saskatchewan government.
The province announced Friday it will spend $2 million to “support research into undocumented deaths” at residential school sites.
The push to examine Canada’s residential school sites follows the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former residential school in Kamloops.
“Part of this collective grief we feel as a society, is that there are so many questions that remain unanswered, and so many records and details that have been lost about these children who attended the schools,” said First Nations, Metis and Northern Affairs Minister Don McMorris during a virtual news conference Friday afternoon.
McMorris called on the federal government to match or surpass the funding commitment.
"It will be a challenging and emotional road for all of us, but one we must walk together because it's the right thing to do," McMorris said.
Earlier this month, the federal government announced $27 million in funding would be made available to help examine residential school sites across Canada.
The provincial funding will be provided directly to the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) to help with its search efforts.
The FSIN has already outlined at least six residential school sites in Saskatchewan to search, a number the organization expects to grow.
"I want to tell each and every one of you a story of those poor little ones that we will never find. Those ones will have escaped those institutions for many, many decades and were lost in the bush, in the country and perished due to the elements," FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said during the news conference.
"We will never find those ones, but we will find some of them," Cameron said.
Rather than just purely searching the ground, Cameron said much of the money would go towards gathering information about the schools from survivors to help find out "where to start."
"During this whole journey with our survivors and the descendants, you know, their input, their guidance has gone to drive this whole process," Cameron said.
Cameron said ceremonies will also be a critical part of the process and described the former schools are "sacred."
"Some of the expectations would be that they be turned into sacred sites, Because that's what they are. These lands are sacred sites, " Cameron said.
The FSIN is still developing its plan to help Indigenous communities carry out the searches.
Cameron said he expects the process of conducting the searches and providing closure could take years.
About 150,000 Indigenous children were separated from their families and forced to attended boarding schools, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
The TRC estimates one in every 50 of the students died.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.