Editor:
The recent discovery of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at the former Kamloops Residential School has profoundly disturbed people of all walks of life. The loss of life, particularly of innocent children at a tender age is heart-rending.
As a practicing Catholic, my conscience compels me to share my sentiments on the incidents that occurred at the residential schools across Canada, notwithstanding the elapse of time.
First and foremost, I must categorically state that I do not condone the actions of the Religious Orders (Catholic and others) in running the residential schools. Nonetheless, we must view these events in the right perspective, going back to the dark history of the residential schools, and the root cause. In this context, we cannot ignore the role of the Canadian Parliament of that time in establishing the Residential School System by enacting The Indian Act in 1876. Shedding our religious biases and affiliations, we cannot pass the buck entirely on the religious orders. In hindsight, such incidents, probably would not have occurred if the government had not mandated and established these schools in the first place. These schools were in operation from the 1880s until the last school was closed down in 1996.
Although the government had sanctioned and funded the residential schools, apparently, they failed to either maintain an active supervisory role or bring accountability for the transgressions that occurred in these schools. They were left to fester, leaving behind a trail of misery and loss of innocent lives.
In order to bring reconciliation with our Indigenous brothers and sisters, it would be prudent to apologize on behalf of the churches involved, as humility and forgiveness are the cherished teachings of Christ.
On June 21, as we commemorate National Indigenous People's Day, let us remember all the victims and survivors of the residential schools.
I hope the next GG of Canada will be one from the First Nations community, in order to bring some restitution and make amends for the past transgressions. Truly, they are the first people of Canada!
H. DeSousa
