Residential School Survivor from Sask. in Ottawa for Trc History

CBC News
June 2, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/residential-school-survivor-from-sask-in-ottawa-for-trc-history-1.3096831

Ted Quewezance says government needs to move beyond apology into action. ((File/CBC))

Over the past six years, thousands of former residential school survivors shared their stories with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Many former students talked about how residential schools tore apart their lives and the lives of their families, sometimes talking about their experiences for the first time.

Now, after six years of listening to those stories, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has released its final report.

Ted Quewezance is the former chief of the Keeseekoose First Nation. He went to residential school himself and headed up the National Residential School Survivors Society. He travelled to Ottawa to be there for this historic event.

He told CBC he is left with a big question. "How are the churches reconciling directly with families and communities right across this country?"

Quewezance said he is looking for action from the present government beyond an apology. "We've had commissions go across this country and we've been studied to death, instead of recommendations we want to know what the actions are going to be? "The whole issue of reconciliation is about housing about our healthcare and about our children," said Quewezance.

He said he wants to see work being done for First Nation people in Saskatchewan and across the country who need it most. "How do we reconcile within our communities with the people who are very poor, that are very hungry, the ones that live 10-15 people in a home, the people who are on drugs [...] That's the target group."