Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors in Canada are calling on officials to do a thorough investigation of every former residential school in the country after the remains of more than 200 children were found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Leaders from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community in the southern interior of British Columbia, where the school was located, said that there are far more questions than answers so far regarding the discovery.
“The federal government has to play a role in making sure that these families know what happened, these families know the truth, that these families can have closure and Canada can confront the reality of this genocide,” said New Democratic leader Jagmeet Singh, noting that if this had happened anywhere else in the world, Canada would demand answers and an international investigation.
He called on the government to step up and investigate thoroughly, saying the community and the world want answers.
The Kamloops Indian Residential school was one of the largest in Canada and operated from the late 19th century to the late 1970s. It was opened and run by the Catholic Church until the federal government took it over in the late 1960s.
