Now that residents of residential schools have an initial apology from Pope Francis for the behavior of some Catholics at the facility, Metis National Council President Cassidy Caron says the queen must be the next to apologize.
Following a proposal from a Metis residential school survivor, Caron called on Queen Elizabeth II, as Canada’s head of state and leader of the Church of England, to apologize for the work of the schools and pay reparations to the survivors.
“There is so much healing needed,” Karen said.
“We need basic human needs in our communities, and that comes from colonization. It comes from assimilation, and some financial reparations are absolutely helpful to help us move forward.”
In addition to the apology, Metis National Council President Cassidy Karen said the royal family should pay reparations to school survivors. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia / AP)
Karen said she planned to deliver the announcement when she met with Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at Rideau Hall this week during their Canadian tour.
Mary Simon, Canada’s first Indigenous Governor-General, called the visit a chance to “show the evolution of our country, our diverse and inclusive society, and the resilience of local communities.”
Many early nations signed treaties with the Crown that made promises – such as promises to share resources – that the Crown later broke.
The queen must agree to unfulfilled promises, survivors say
“The Queen is also a member of the treaty and she has an obligation to fulfill the agreement,” said Paul Andrew, who survives at the famous Grollier Hall in Inuvik, Northeast America.
“Through reconciliation, they can correct mistakes.”
Andrew said this meant that the Queen had to ensure that there were no more land transfers and that the rights of the indigenous people were respected.
“An apology would be good, but I think it’s much more important to see what action is needed,” said Andrew, a former Tulita chief 614 km northwest of Yellowknife.
“We want a new relationship … The ball is in their court.”
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince Charles wave to the crowd as they ride in a carriage during Canada’s 150 celebrations in Ottawa on July 1, 2017 (Fred Chartrand / Canadian Press)
The Anglican Church ran 36 residential schools – most of every religious denomination except the Roman Catholic Church – and ran more than 150 Indian day schools between 1820 and 1969.
Pete Irnik, a former commissioner for Nunavut, said she wanted Charles and Camilla to learn about indigenous cultures that schools are trying to destroy.
“They must also sincerely apologize for the loss of our indigenous being,” said Irnik, who survived Sir Joseph Bernier’s Federal Day School in Chesterfield Inlet, 1,095 km west of Iqaluit.
“This would be a really good thing to do, also for healing and reconciliation between the Anglicans and the royal people.
At their first stop in St. John on Tuesday, Charles and Camilla will pay tribute to Indigenous children who died in residential schools during a visit to the Garden of the Heart at the Government House.
Pete Irnik, a surviving school dormitory, wants to hear an apology from Queen Elizabeth II. (Jason Franson / Canadian Press)
Irnik said the couple should share what they learned with the queen.
“She must apologize on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Church of the World,” Irnik said.
“They did almost the same thing as the Roman Catholic Church in terms of loss of culture, loss of language, loss of traditional spirituality.”
The Canadian royal visit comes after a tour of Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas in February. This tour provoked protests and public demands for reparations for slavery.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holnes unexpectedly announced his country’s plans to sever ties with the monarchy and become a republic, following the example of Barbados.
Murray Sinclair, a former chairman of the Commissioner for Truth and Reconciliation, said efforts to apologize to the royal family to account for what the government had done could change little and complicate the issue.
“That would put them in politics unnecessarily, and then we get into a whole different dispute,” Sinclair said.
“It will simply divert us from the very important conversation we have to have about what we can do to change the way we are, the relationships we have.
“Confession, then apology”
Garth Walbridge, a mestizo lawyer who worked for the Royal Aboriginal Commission, said Charles and Camilla should at least acknowledge the damage caused by housing schools and colonization.
“With a recognition like the Royal Family involved in all this … and we’re sorry,” that would be good, “said Walbridge, a practicing lawyer in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
“But there must be a confession, then an apology.”
Before apologizing to the royal family, Metis lawyer Garth Walbridge said there should be recognition for the damage caused by housing schools and colonization. (Lauren McGuinness / CBC)
The Archbishop of Canterbury recently apologized in Canada for the role the Church of England plays in schools.
“I regret that the church has belittled your spirituality, tarnished and undermined your culture and tradition, and above all your language,” said Justin Welby in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, 142 km northeast of Saskatoon.
After witnessing the apology, Brian Hardlot, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of Prince Albert, said the Queen should complete the apology for the Anglican Church.
“This is something I personally, as a leader and survivor, would like to see,” he said.
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