Meili calls on premier to apologize for Île-à-la-Crosse and Timber Bay residential schools
The province would then work to determine compensation for survivors and their families
Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili. (Herald file photo)
In a letter addressed to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Wednesday, Opposition NDP Leader Ryan Meili demanded an official apology from the province for trauma caused to Indigenous people at the Île-à-la-Crosse and Timber Bay residential schools in northern Saskatchewan.
Neither of the residential schools were included in the federal Indian Residential School Settlement process established as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The two schools were run by religious groups that were funded by both the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan.
Day scholars attended the same residential schools where many Aboriginal students suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse, but day scholars returned home at the end of each school day. Day scholars were not included as part of the 2006 Indian Residential School Settlement of about $3 billion. On Wednesday (June 9), Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett announced the settlement will see each survivor receive $10,000 in compensation. In addition, the federal government will place $50 million in a Day Scholars Revitalization Fund. “I suffered a lot as a day scholar at Kamloops Indian Residential School. I was taught to feel that I did not belong with Secwépemc people practising my culture and traditions and became disconnected from my family and community,” said Diena Jules of Tk emlúps te Secwépemc. Jules was a day scholar at the Kamloops Indian Residential School and a plaintiff in the class action lawsuit.
REGINA The Saskatchewan NDP is asking Premier Scott Moe to make a formal apology on behalf of the province to the people who attended or were affected by the Ile-a-la-Crosse and Timber Bay residential schools. Both schools, located in northern Saskatchewan, were run by religious organizations in the province. Because they were not run by the federal government, they were not included in the Indian Residential School Settlement process. The schools received funding from the provincial and federal governments at the time they were running. “The operations of these two residential schools in Saskatchewan was a dark chapter in the history of our province - a chapter that occurred under the watch of successive governments of different political stripes,” NDP Leader Ryan Meili said.