CANADA
Anglican Journal
BY ANDRÉ FORGET ON MARCH, 20 2017
Canadian Anglican leaders have upbraided Conservative Senator Lynn Beyak for her assertion that the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was overly negative in its representation of the Indian Residential Schools system.
In an open letter published March 20, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald and General Secretary Archdeacon Michael Thompson said they were “dismayed” by Beyak’s comments, and stated there was “nothing good” about the residential schools system.
In a March 7 speech to the senate, Beyak had criticized the TRC for letting the negative aspects of the Indian Residential Schools system—which its report concluded constituted “cultural genocide”—overshadow the “good deeds” of “well-intentioned” teachers.
Beyak made similar remarks during a recent meeting of the Senate’s Aboriginal People’s committee (of which she is a member), saying she was disappointed the TRC’s report “didn’t focus on the good” done by Christian teachers.
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