MONTREAL—An impressive roster of high-profile Canadians was at the third day of the Truth and Reconciliation hearings in Montreal, listening to the emotional stories of abuse from survivors of Indian Residential Schools.
Former Prime Minister Paul Martin, along with former Auditor General Sheila Fraser, sat with New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash, himself a survivor of the schools.
Hosted at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, the goal of the hearings is to listen to the stories and “honourably carry on these stories in the sacred First Nations sense,” explained CTV Montreal reporter Tarah Schwartz.
“As a witness, what is important is to validate these stories of what people lived through in the Residential School system.”
Despite an apology from the Canadian government, Martin said that a huge injustice remains in the health and education of First Nations across Canada. The former PM also said that equal welfare payments to First Nations were unfair when compared to the living standards of other Canadians.
Many see the hearings as a jumping off point for the conversation of what needs to be done to rectify the situation with First Nations.
Despite over 150 years of residential schools, Martin said that he did not believe the system would have been allowed to exist if Canadians were aware of it—the former Liberal PM stating that Canadians are a fair people.
“The purpose was there, it was written and repeated, they had to kill the Indian within us,” said Saganash, who was placed in a Residential School at age six. “The entire policy and strategy was pretty clear. It was racist, just like the Indian Act was racist and remains racist.”
Saturday will be the final day of the hearings. One of the mandates of the commission holding the hearings is to establish a research centre to hold all the testimony gathered across Canada.
