CTV British Columbia
January 13, 2008
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080113/native_protest_080113/20080113?hub=Canada
Protesters gathered outside a downtown Vancouver Catholic church Sunday, demanding to know the locations where children were allegedly buried at residential schools in the province.
The crowd stood in front of the Holy Rosary Cathedral where they hoped to give a letter to Vancouver's archbishop.
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| Protesters gather outside Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008. |
Organizer Kevin Annett, a former United Church minister, claims native children who died at the schools were buried in mass graves -- but none of those allegations have been proven.
"It isn't just about sexual and physical assault anymore, it's about genocide -- it's about murder," he said outside the church.
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| Organizer Kevin Annett, a former United Church minister, claims native children were buried in mass graves. |
Annett said the Catholic, United and Anglican churches all took part in the burials, and also claimed to know where some of the graves were located.
"We know there are mass graves behind the schools in Port Alberni, in Alert Bay, in Mission," he said. "Right next to the grounds of the Mission (Folk Music Festival)."
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| Father Glenn Dion, rector of the Holy Rosary Cathedral, speaks to Annett about the allegations on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008. |
When Father Glenn Dion, rector of the Holy Rosary Cathedral, walked through the crowd, Annett spoke to him about the allegations.
Dion advised him to make sure the claims were substantiated.
"If there's some truth to these allegations, if anyone knows anything about this, please bring it to the authorities and let them deal with it," said Dion. "I don't know anything about it myself -- I'm just a simple parish priest here."
The federal government is creating a $60-million Truth and Reconciliation Commission, modeled after a similar commission in South Africa that was aimed at healing the wounds of apartheid, to hear stories of abuse at the schools.
While the accusations of mass graves are unproven, the commission has told the RCMP it should be ready to probe the issue.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Dave Pinton
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