Page controls
Page content
Warning: This statement contains subject matter that some readers may find disturbing, such as racism, emotional and physical abuse, and community, familial and individual trauma. Please engage in self-care as you read this material. Safe and respectful mental health and emotional support services are available 24/7 without judgment and are completely confidential. The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of a residential school experience - call 1-866-925-4419. The Hope for Wellness Help Line is available to all Indigenous people across Canada – call 1-855-242-3310 or chat online.
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day that honours the children who never came home and Survivors of Indian Residential Schools and their families and communities. The ongoing impacts of settler colonialism and its resulting intergenerational trauma on Indigenous Peoples requires specific work to redress these harms and rebuild relationships.
The OHRC recognizes the vital importance of encouraging truth to continue moving towards reconciliation with Indigenous communities. Eighteen years have passed since the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement established a legal obligation on the federal government and some Christian churches to release historical records about Indian Residential Schools. And, it has been nine years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued Calls to Action 71 and 77, urging federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and others to release residential school records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. As of today, these records have yet to be released.
The records may contain details about the lives and deaths of children who attended Indian Residential Schools and support the work to recover unmarked burials. They are imperative to exposing truth and creating the circumstances for accountability, justice, and reparation that are essential to reconciliation.
Ceding control over historical records and shedding light on facts is a first and crucial step to rebuilding relationships with Indigenous people. Further, we need to be intentional about continuing to learn the difficult truths of what happened to the children who did not return from residential schools.
Nurturing and bringing truth to light can combat denialism - the belief that something did not happen or is not true when evidence proves otherwise. Denialism is grounded in stereotypes, negative attitudes, and prejudice toward individuals and groups. Such attitudes weaken our ability to engage in public dialogue and restore relationships with Indigenous communities.
In her recent interim report, Kimberly Murray, the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites, reported an increase in the violence of denialists who are attacking the credibility of Survivors’ truth about missing children, unmarked burials, and cemeteries at Indian Residential Schools. Everyone, including governments, public, private-sector organizations, and civil society has a responsibility to send a clear message that denialism is damaging to Indigenous communities and, ultimately, to all of us who wish to live in peace and harmony.
Only with an honest accounting of the past will it be possible to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous communities. That is why the OHRC again calls on all parties to immediately release all residential school records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and to take the steps necessary to acknowledge our country’s history, end these harms, and ensure they never occur again.