VICTORIA, B.C. – Cowessess First Nation has announced the findings of 751 unmarked graves at Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan. The B.C. Green Caucus today, issued the following statement:
“My heart is with those who were found and their families. This is another devastating affirmation of the horrific reality of residential schools,” said Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation. “An estimated 150,000 children attended these deplorable institutions over more than a hundred years - we know that this is just the beginning of this chapter of uncovering.
“It speaks again to the need to see not words, but actions, and commitment to serious structural change. Indigenous people have carried this trauma through generations. Funding needs to be made available for programs and services to support survivors and their families to heal from the abuse they suffered in these awful places, however the provincial government must also make resources available for capital infrastructure like healing and cultural centres.”
“We need swift implementation of the recent Action Plan on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The B.C. Green Caucus has called for the Selecting Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs to be struck, in order for there to be transparency and accountability in the actions and steps this government is taking,” said B.C. Greens leader Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley.
The 24/7 Residential School Crisis Line is 1-866-925-4419.
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | [email protected]