Winnipeg Free Press Theodore Fontaine, 79, shined light on dark legacy of residential school system SUPPLIED Fontaine and Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger became, in the duo’s words, ‘best friends’ during nationwide speaking tours together on the trauma they experienced in youth. In 1990, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs leader Phil Fontaine shocked Canada, by speaking publicly about the physical and sexual abuse he endured during his time in the residential school system. In 1990, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs leader Phil Fontaine shocked Canada, by speaking publicly about the physical and sexual abuse he endured during his time in the residential school system. He talked about how he was not alone ("If there were 20 boys, every single one of them… would have experienced what I experienced") and how this abuse led to cycles of pain and violence throughout generations of Indigenous families.