Canada to pay compensation to indigenous peoples after historic agreement

The government of Justin Trudeau announced that it will pay historic reparations of nearly C$3 billion to indigenous peoples for the abuses suffered between the end of the 19th century and the 1990s.

An official statement says that “Canada is committed to repairing the collective damage caused by the residential school system and the loss of language, culture and heritage.”

In what has been described as “cultural genocide”, thousands of children were sent to residential schools run by the Catholic Church, which did its best to uproot students from their culture, language and background.

This practice was carried out for a century and around 150,000 children were affected. Many of them died from disease, physical and sexual abuse, or malnutrition.

In recent years, the graves of hundreds of children were found who were buried to hide their bodies and the aberrations committed by those schools. More than 1,300 graves have already been identified, the most recent ten days ago.

“It has taken Canada too long to acknowledge its history, to acknowledge the genocide it committed and to acknowledge the collective harm done to our nations by residential schools,” said Garry Feschuk, an indigenous leader who is one of the plaintiffs.

“The repercussions go beyond my generation. It will take many generations to heal,” said Shane Gottfriedson, a former leader of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community.

“This agreement is intended to take steps to repair the damage that has been done to our nations,” Gottfriedson insisted, stressing “the devastating effects of residential schools” on all Canadian aboriginal peoples.

The value of the compensation will be placed in a non-profit trust independent from the government and will be used to “revitalize indigenous education, culture and language, to help survivors in their process of healing and reconnecting with their heritage”, according to the official statement. (YO)