The Provincial Government is providing $10 million over the next three years to help identify, investigate, protect and commemorate Indian Residential School burial sites.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford admits the funding has been in the works for some time.
“Ontario had already been acting on a number of recommendations specific to burial sites,” says Rickford, “A number of Indigenous communities and/or organizations had been working independently, on their own, for some known, unknown and unmarked burial sites.”
Today, Premier @fordnation and I announced $10M to investigate former Indian Residential Schools burial sites in the province. Ontario will work under the guidance of Indigenous leaders and communities to support this painful and necessary work. pic.twitter.com/5KovpqIDsB
— Greg Rickford (@GregRickford) June 15, 2021
Our government will partner with Indigenous elders, communities and residential school survivors to advance this critical process and ensure trauma-informed support is available at every step.
Learn more: https://t.co/pBHsikJr5h pic.twitter.com/39cpgP6qvN
— Greg Rickford (@GregRickford) June 15, 2021
He explains how they see the funds helping.
“We want to be able to provide a broader platform of capacity, pathology, forensics, other digital expertise and capacity as well (as) considerable financial resources to support ongoing activities that are being led currently by Indigenous communities.”
Rickford adds that the money will also provide mental health supports as more bodies of young children are found in local burial sites.
Treaty Three Grand Chief Francis Kavanaugh says the discovery in Kamloops affects all indigenous people.
“Not only survivors are impacted. All First Nations people in Canada are impacted by the discovery.”
Premier Doug Ford joined the announcement virtually and said that they can no longer look to the federal government to start the process.
“I’m not going to wait to support our Indigenous community. We’ve built an incredible relationship with all Indigenous leaders across the province, and I’ve said from day one we’ll always their back and I’ll never break that promise. I’ll always have their back (and) I’ll always support them.”
The announcement made Tuesday morning was met with some level of support from both Ontario’s Liberal leader, Steven Del Duca and Ontario’s NDP leader, Andrea Horwath.
Ontario Liberals support the funding to identify and commemorate Residential School burial sites, and we are urging the government to reinstate the Indigenous curriculum changes they cancelled in 2018. 1/3 #onpoli
— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) June 15, 2021
LIVE – Andrea Horwath and Sol Mamakwa respond to provincial announcement on surveying residential school sites https://t.co/oiyf1EcGu1
— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) June 15, 2021
Web by Stuart Walter
