Commission releases interim report into unmarked graves at residential schools
An interim report from an international group hired to provide advice on identifying and locating the unmarked graves of children who attended residential schools says Canada should continue funding searches beyond 2025.
The report from the International Commission on Missing Persons, based in The Hague, covers the work done so far and suggests next steps.
It also recommends there should be a multijurisdictional dialogue to support the needs of communities and for Ottawa to ratify the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
"States have the responsibility to find all missing persons, regardless of their background," Kathryne Bomberger, director-general of the commission, said Thursday in Ottawa.
Ottawa launched the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund in June 2021. The money is for communities and families to research, locate and document burial sites, as well as to memorialize the deaths of children and return remains home.
The initiative is funded until 2025.
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said it was unable to provide a comment Thursday.
A national movement to find and commemorate unmarked graves began after ground-penetrating radar detected possible remains at the former Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia in 2021. Many other First Nations began to search the grounds of former residential schools across the country and thousands more possible graves have since been located.
Soon after the initial discovery, the Assembly of First Nations invited the commission to Canada to help provide advice and technical support. Indigenous leaders called for the development of a national legal framework to address the identification of unmarked graves in the context of international criminal law and human rights abuses.
The commission specializes in working with governments and organizations around the world to find people who have disappeared. It conducted such work in Canada after the 2013 Lac-Megantic rail disaster that left 47 people dead.
The federal government signed a technical agreement with the commission last year. But shortly after the $2-million contract was announced, it was criticized by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and a special interlocutor the government appointed to probe the issue because of the commission's lack of Indigenous background.
An amended agreement was later signed.
The commission's report says it conducted eight formal presentations with First Nations, participated in 10 key gatherings and held one-on-one discussions, connecting with about 1,500 Indigenous rights holders and partners.
It also monitored a search at a former residential school site in Manitoba.
Some First Nations requested assistance in "forensic archeology and anthropology, requirements for undertaking an exhumation, and efficient data management in cases of long-term missing persons," the report says.
Bomberger said the search process for each community is unique but there needs to be a unified strategy to collect and share data. The report says it's important to support Indigenous-led investigations with technical assistance from the commission.
"It's a very tough and grueling process to start to think about and find ways we can support without retraumatizing families," said Sheila North, Canada program manager for the commission.
An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools across Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which looked into the legacy of the schools, found a high rate of death from violence, illness and malnutrition.
North said communities need answers, and that requires ongoing financial support.
The report's release coincided with a news conference held by Niki Ashton, federal NDP critic for Indigenous Services, with representatives of the commission and some First Nations leaders. Ashton called on the Liberal government to continue funding as long as communities are searching for answers.
"Canada's response has been less than acceptable," Ashton said.
Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine said he's developed a good relationship with the commission. He said residential schools amounted to genocide and a crime.
Families deserve justice, he said.
"The truth is being revealed," Antoine said. "There are many people who are missing."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2024.
By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Saskatoon
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
BREAKING Batteries of Lebanon walkie-talkies contained PETN explosive, source tells Reuters
The batteries of the walkie-talkies used by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah that blew up this week were laced with a highly explosive compound known as PETN, a Lebanese source familiar with the device's components told Reuters.
New Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M, still not collecting guns after 4 years
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
No, these viral purple apples don't exist in Saskatchewan
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. That's the message from Saskatchewan horticulturists after customers have come into their stores hoping to buy purple apple trees this month.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including machine-guns
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
Influencer couple denies leaving kids alone on cruise
For most people, dinner on a cruise ship is a time to relax. But when influencer couple Abby and Matt Howard decided to kick back with a dinner à deux, they ended up kicking up a storm.
Thousands of exploding devices in Lebanon trigger a nation that has been on edge for years
Chris Knayzeh was in a town overlooking Lebanon's capital when he heard the rumbling aftershock of the 2020 Beirut port blast. Hundreds of tons of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrates had exploded, killing and injuring thousands of people.
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.
A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.