CANADA
The Globe and Mail
'This is a moment for the ages," Grand Chief Phil Fontaine, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, said the other day after Paul Martin's Liberal government announced a deal worth perhaps $6-billion to compensate former students of residential schools.
Funny, there have been a lot of those moments lately. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams had one (worth $2-billion) after talks with the Prime Minister. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had his own moment for the ages ($5.7-billion). Have-not provinces had their moment ($30-billion-plus) and all provinces had theirs ($41-billion) after health talks concluded last September. Truly, these are historic times.
The church-run residential schools were a shameful chapter in this country's history. Between the mid-1800s and 1970, up to one-third of native children were placed in the schools. It has long been clear they were vulnerable to horrifying abuse. More than just abuse; reports from the early part of the last century found that children were dying in large numbers.