This content was published on 07 October 2021 – 22:54
Toronto (Canada), Oct 7 (EFE) .- The Canadian indigenous people described this Thursday as an “insult” the absence of the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, in the ceremonies of the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, last 30 September, in which Aboriginal victims of Canadian school residences were remembered.
The Tkemlúps te secwépemc Indians in western Canada said in a statement that “the lack of response” to the two specific invitations they sent Trudeau to participate in the events “was an added insult.”
The tkemlúps te secwépemc explained that Trudeau “never extended his hand” or his sympathies towards the community, when they announced in May 2021 the discovery of hundreds of unidentified graves with the remains of indigenous children on the grounds of a former school residence of the Kamloops town.
“The Canadian government was the entity that created the institution of school residences and now it is the leaders of the Canadian government who need to work with indigenous peoples to find the path of truth and reconciliation,” noted the tkemlúps te secwépemc.
Trudeau’s decision to take advantage of the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which his own Government designated as the day to remember the atrocities committed against indigenous people, to go on vacation with his family to a Pacific island of Canada has caused a political storm in the country.
Initially, the office of the prime minister of Canada tried to hide that it was on vacation while the rest of the country honored the tens of thousands of indigenous children who were forcibly interned by the Government in institutions where they suffered all kinds of abuse and where it is estimated that thousands of them died.
Only after the media revealed that Trudeau was not in Ottawa – as indicated by his official schedule, but on vacation – did his office change his story.
Finally on October 2, Trudeau spoke with the head of the tkemlúps te secwépemc, Rosanne Casimir, to apologize for her absence from the September 30 ceremonies, and yesterday she publicly acknowledged that it was a “mistake” to have gone on vacation with her family. that day.
This Thursday, indigenous Canadians stressed that they are not interested in apologies empty of content.
“Reconciliation begins with actions. Real action and change is what is needed to support recovery, the revitalization of our language, culture, traditions and ways of knowing. We are not interested in apologies that do not produce widespread institutional change,” they said in your statement.
The tkemloups have revealed that Trudeau was formally invited to participate in the September 30 ceremonies on two occasions, but that the prime minister did not even deign to respond. Trudeau also ignored the request to send a recorded message.
The school residences were part of a boarding school system established by the Canadian government in the late 19th century, run by religious orders, to eradicate the country’s indigenous cultures.
Indigenous children were forcibly interned in school residences from an early age. There, children suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse. An estimated 150,000 children were admitted to these institutions until the last one closed in 1997.
Thousands of children died in school residences. In many cases, their families were not informed of the deaths. EFE
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