BishopAccountability.org
	School Survivors Deserve Apology Sarnia Observer May 20, 2008 http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1034774 Prime Minister Stephen Harper deserves credit for deciding to apologize for abuses that took place at native residential schools, though it's a shame it took so long. With native leaders hinting at highway and railroad blockades on the May 29 aboriginal day of action, a cynic might suspect the move has more to do with political expediency than genuine contrition. We like to think the prime minister just wants to do the right thing. It's been 10 years now since the federal government admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the once-mandatory schools. About 150,000 children attended the church-run facilities, which were funded by Ottawa to "Christianize" aboriginal people. Although some former students report positive experiences, thousands have sued the federal government for abuses suffered at the hands of church staff and other pupils. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said last week Harper will apologize on June 11. That's shortly after a "truth commission" begins a five-year project to hear from former students and staff throughout Canada. Today there are about 90,000 surviving former students, and many of them have stressed how important it is to them to hear the prime minister say in the House of Commons that he is sorry. An apology would acknowledge the Canadian government's role in separating aboriginal children from their families, leaving many of them shattered from days of abuse, isolation and pain. By denying native children the right to speak their own language and follow their own traditions, the government, however well-intentioned at the time, was an instrument of forced assimilation. An apology cannot right a wrong. But when it's sincere, an apology can be a good point from which to begin anew.
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