Vancouver Island schools, politicians, survivors mourn Kamloops residential school deaths
Vancouver Island children and teachers are being encouraged to wear orange shirts this week in memory of the 215 children whose remains were found on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops.
“That is a step in the conversation,” said Shelly Niemi, district administrator for Indigenous education with the Greater Victoria School District.
Senior staff at the school district met over the weekend to discuss how to begin conversations in the schools about last Friday’s findings in Kamloops.
“Where do we start to have these conversations and not just on Sept. 30 on Orange Shirt Day?” said Niemi. “How do we collectively do this as a continuation right throughout the entire school year?”
Flags were lowered to half-staff around the island. At Victoria City Hall, the flag was lowered by a survivor of the residential school system.
“As a residential school survivor, we just want people to hear our story and acknowledge that this really happened,” said Eddy Charlie, a Kuper Island school survivor.
Melvin Jones spent two weeks in a residential school in Port Alberni in the early 1960s. He was then transferred to the Nanaimo Indian Hospital at the age of six.
“I don’t know what we did wrong to deserve what we got,” said Jones on Monday.
He says he was strapped to a gurney for 20 hours at a time and endured electric-shock treatment by the doctors at the hospital.
“They put these electrodes on my head, they did this every day and they were shocking me every day,” said Jones.
One day Jones saw his friend George being walked down the hallway of the hospital by a doctor and a nurse.
“I started crying, you know, because I think he’s going to get his shock treatment,” said Jones.
He never saw his friend George again.
“He never came back,” said Jones.
On Monday, Premier John Horgan was not mincing his words about Canada’s history with residential schools.
“We are a proud people, we’ve done extraordinary things together but we’ve also done atrocious things together and collectively we have a responsibility to face that head on,” said Horgan. “After the discovery of a mass grave in Kamloops it’s more real than ever before.”
MLA Adam Olsen, a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, called on the premier to take action rather than just speaking words.
“We must make those resources immediately available for trauma and healing services,” said Olsen. “It’s time for the representatives in this chamber to stop saying how we can’t do this and start finding ways that we can do it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'We have laws': Premier Smith says police action justified in Calgary
The actions, including the decision to use non-lethal force, to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Calgary campus were justified, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.