Wynne says federal response to residential school study ‘disappointing’

Global News
June 6, 2015

http://globalnews.ca/news/2040276/wynne-says-federal-response-to-residential-school-study-disappointing/

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Thursday June 4, 2015.

COLLINGWOOD, Ont. – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne calls the federal government’s response to recommendations from a six-year study of Canada’s residential schools legacy “disappointing.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released 94 recommendations Tuesday along with a summary of its conclusions, including its description of a “cultural genocide” and the estimated deaths of more than 6,000 children.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper did not address a ceremony that was held on Wednesday to formally close the commission’s work.

He has suggested in the House of Commons that his government has already moved on addressing aboriginal concerns in the seven years since he issued an historic apology from the government of Canada.

Wynne began her speech to the Ontario Liberal annual general meeting on Saturday by acknowledging the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and saying there is “no possible excuse for any government to ignore the abuses of our past relationship.”

The premier has criticized Harper in the past for not calling a national inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women.

The federal government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wynne’s speech.