Neve and Rock: After Kamloops discovery, nothing can be as before

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By Alex Neve and Allan Rock

The wave of grief has been immense following discovery of the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of the government-authorized, Catholic Church-run institution in Kamloops that does not deserve to be remembered as either residential or a school.

Finally, Canadians are coming to terms with the agonizing truth that our country was founded in genocide, the reality of which is still with us. Nothing can be as before.

Space must be opened and respected for Indigenous voices and leadership, in Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation territory and nationwide. That means space for survivors, relatives, friends and community members, to be as private or as public as they wish in responding to this wrenching revelation.

It’s time for urgent action, beyond anything before. Responsibility for making that happen and being part of it lies with us all. It is not the pain and responsibility of Indigenous Peoples to bear alone.

As settler men who have long worked in human rights leadership posts in Canada, we are determined to be part of that journey. Our unequivocal message to governments and church leaders: the denying, delaying and obstructing steps we must take, ends now.

We call attention to Indigenous leaders’ insistent demands of recent days. The agenda is clear. And that may be the gravest indictment: the agenda has long been in front of us, exhaustively enumerated via the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and other inquiries.

The TRC issued six Calls to Action dealing with missing children and burial information, to be overseen by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation with “sufficient resources” from Ottawa. Within days, Prime Minister Trudeau should provide a full accounting of the response to those recommendations.

A National Day of Mourning also should also be announced.

There is much more to do. We suggest these initial steps:

• Pursue truth: As the TRC noted, there’s need for substantial resources to support exhaustive investigations to “plot the location of deceased residential school children” and make it possible “to inform the families of children who died at residential schools of the child’s burial location.”

• Deliver justice: What happened in Kamloops — and other residential schools — were crimes that must be investigated and pursued. Most perpetrators are likely dead. But the institutions, agencies and departments for which they worked may bear criminal or other legal liability.

• Implement existing recommendations: There were 94 Calls to Action from the TRC and 231 Calls for Justice from MMIWG Inquiry. No more delays.

• End court battles: For more than 15 years, the federal government (under both parties) has fought the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society’s bid to secure equality for First Nations children. Residential school survivor redress efforts also are tied up in lawsuits.

• Commit to human rights: Both the TRC and the MMIWG inquiry called on Canada to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Bill C-15, which would do that, is before the Senate. Every effort must be made to pass it before an impending federal election.

• Be accountable: There is no national action plan in response to the MMIWG inquiry, and little clarity on the status of TRC Calls to Action. That is not acceptable. Trudeau should designate a minister as a focal point and report monthly on progress in implementing both reports.

From this moment forward, and for 215 reasons, nothing can be as before.

Alex Neve is a senior fellow in the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and was Amnesty International Canada secretary general from 2000-20.

Allan Rock is president emeritus and a law professor at the University of Ottawa and is a former federal justice minister and attorney general