Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t come empty-handed when he visited Williams Lake First Nation Wednesday, March 30.
The Prime Minister and Chief Willie Sellars of Williams Lake First Nation announced $2.9 million in additional funding to continue supporting healing for First Nations communities in British Columbia whose children were taken from their families and sent to St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School. The funding builds on the $1.4 million that Canada provided earlier this year to help uncover potential burial sites at the former residential school. The money will help the community continue conducting research, including survivor interviews, to further uncover the truth about what happened at the school and begin the process of healing, noted the government in a news release issued Wednesday.
The announcement will also support plans for a temporary commemorative structure in the area which will provide a safe place for people to gather and pay their respects. This community-led initiative will help impacted communities continue on their healing journey.
During a press conference held at WLFN Wednesday, March 30, Trudeau said Indigenous history is the whole country’s history.
“Until we commit ourselves to do better we aren’t living up to what we should be,” Trudeau said.
Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who was with the prime minister on Wednesday as he spoke with survivors said for a guy like him sitting in Ottawa, he needs to hear these stories. “This is difficult work and it will take time. We need to let the communities take the time they need to heal.”
In the news release, Trudeau and Miller noted addressing the harms suffered by residential school survivors, their families, and their communities is essential to renewing and building Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples.
“We will continue to support this painful but necessary work across the country to locate unmarked graves, continue to tell the stories of what happened at residential schools, and ensure the appropriate supports are available for communities to heal and commemorate those who never made it home.”
Earlier this year, Williams Lake First Nation released preliminary findings believed to be 93 unmarked graves at the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School. “The Government of Canada supports all communities in their efforts to work together to develop an engagement strategy with the more than 50 surrounding First Nations affected by the former residential school.”
Read More: ‘I’m here to listen,’: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Williams Lake First Nation
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