The words have been spoken and it’s time to act.
Justice Murray Sinclair delivered a positive message for action Tuesday as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded its look into the Residential School System.
The final report was six years in the making and includes 94-recommendations.
Sinclair says, just like the survivors who told their story, the government needs to find the strength to move forward.
He notes survivors, their families and communities are looking to our political leaders to display the conviction and the courage to honour the commitments made to aboriginal people and to start a new chapter in the story of Canada that we can all be proud of.
Sinclair calls the Residential School experience is clearly one of the darkest and most troubling chapters in our collective history and notes Canada clearly participated in a period of “cultural genocide.
One of the TRC recommendations is for the government to create a royal proclamation of reconciliation.
Sinclair is urging the government to act and start the healing process as well as work with aboriginal leaders.
Over 150,000 aboriginal children attended the schools between the 1840’s and 1969.
The TRC heard stories from almost 7,000 people who attended the schools.
