residential schools

A ceremonial cloth with the names of 2,800 children who died in residential schools and were identified in the National Student Memorial Register, is carried to the stage during the Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. A new report says more than $3 billion has been paid out to victims of Canada’s notorious residential schools. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Final report: More than $3B paid to 38,000 survivors of residential schools

The money was paid under settlement terms of the Indian residential schools class action.

 

Sen. Lynn Beyak waits for the throne speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. Beyak is retiring from the Senate three years early. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Wattie

Lynn Beyak, who defended ‘good’ of residential schools, retires early from the Senate

Many Indigenous children were abused and thousands died of disease, malnutrition in residential schools

 

British Columbia Premier John Horgan (centre, blue jacket) is drummed into the Lower Post Residential School by Kaska drummers in Lower Post, B.C. on Orange Shirt Day in a 2019 handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Manu Keggenhoff MANDATORY CREDIT

Former residential school in Lower Post, B.C., slated for demolition: premier

After 45 years of lobbying the federal and B.C. governments, the building is slated for demolition in the spring

 

NDP Ethics critic Charlie Angus speaks during a news conference on Parliament hill in Ottawa, Wednesday December 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

O’Toole walks back words on residential schools amid backlash

He said modern Conservatives have a better record on the schools than Liberals

NDP Ethics critic Charlie Angus speaks during a news conference on Parliament hill in Ottawa, Wednesday December 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A dream catcher with 91 ties of tobacco was placed over a fire. The ties represent the 91 years St. Joseph’s Mission operated as a residential school. (Rebecca Dyok photo)

Tl’etinqox women find strength at former B.C. Interior residential school site

Healing ceremony part of video project to honour legacy of residential schools

A dream catcher with 91 ties of tobacco was placed over a fire. The ties represent the 91 years St. Joseph’s Mission operated as a residential school. (Rebecca Dyok photo)
A ceremonial cloth with the names of 2,800 children who died in residential schools and were identified in the National Student Memorial Register, is carried to the stage during the Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s director says Ottawa and provincial and territorial governments must establish monuments in capital cities across Canada to honour residential schools’ survivors and their families. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Residential-school survivors call on Ottawa and provinces for monuments

Stephanie Scott says symbols are powerful medicine to bring comfort to survivors

A ceremonial cloth with the names of 2,800 children who died in residential schools and were identified in the National Student Memorial Register, is carried to the stage during the Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s director says Ottawa and provincial and territorial governments must establish monuments in capital cities across Canada to honour residential schools’ survivors and their families. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A gavel sits on a desk in Ottawa, Wednesday February 13, 2019. An Ontario judge was wrong to order a legal fight involving victims of one of the country’s most notorious residential schools and the federal government be heard in British Columbia, a higher court has ruled. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

St. Anne’s residential school document fight to stay in Ontario, Appeal Court rules

Among residential schools in Canada, St. Anne’s in Fort Albany, Ont., was particularly toxic

A gavel sits on a desk in Ottawa, Wednesday February 13, 2019. An Ontario judge was wrong to order a legal fight involving victims of one of the country’s most notorious residential schools and the federal government be heard in British Columbia, a higher court has ruled. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Alberta's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday, July 6, 2020. Advisers are reportedly recommending Alberta's kindergarten to Grade 4 arts and social studies curriculum remove all references to residential schools because it's "too sad" for young children. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Advisers suggest Alberta students not learn about residential schools before Grade 4

Documents suggest children younger than Grade 4 are too emotionally vulnerable to learn about residential schools

Alberta's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday, July 6, 2020. Advisers are reportedly recommending Alberta's kindergarten to Grade 4 arts and social studies curriculum remove all references to residential schools because it's "too sad" for young children. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Anne Jimmie holds up a photo of her and her mother, Christine Jimmy, that was taken in 1948. (Aaron Hemens - Creston Valley Advance)

Saving the inner child: B.C. elder reflects on time in Kootenay residential school

“By the time I left the residential school, I didn’t like myself. To me, it was like I was one of God’s worst creations.”

Anne Jimmie holds up a photo of her and her mother, Christine Jimmy, that was taken in 1948. (Aaron Hemens - Creston Valley Advance)
Ann Guichon hugs her daughter Kyra on Orange Shirt Day. (Gwitne Alphonse photo)

First returning spirit bike ride held at site of former residential school near Williams Lake

The first annual event by Williams Lake First Nation was held Sept. 30

Ann Guichon hugs her daughter Kyra on Orange Shirt Day. (Gwitne Alphonse photo)
The Orange Shirt Day textbook can be purchased online through Medicine Wheel Education, Amazon and Chapters Indigo. In Williams Lake, it can also be purchased at the Open Book. The Orange Shirt Society will receive 15 per cent from the sale of each book.

Orange Shirt Society launches first textbook on residential school history

Phyllis Webstad and Joan Sorley worked on the 156-page book to help educate students

The Orange Shirt Day textbook can be purchased online through Medicine Wheel Education, Amazon and Chapters Indigo. In Williams Lake, it can also be purchased at the Open Book. The Orange Shirt Society will receive 15 per cent from the sale of each book.
FILE – Joyce Hunter, right, whose brother Charlie Hunter died at St. Anne’s Residential School in 1974, and Stephanie Scott, staff at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, lay down a ceremonial cloth with the names of 2,800 children who died in residential schools and were identified in the National Student Memorial Register, during the Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

B.C. or Ontario? Residential school survivors fight move of court battle

It’s now up to Ontario’s Court of Appeal to sort out the venue question

FILE – Joyce Hunter, right, whose brother Charlie Hunter died at St. Anne’s Residential School in 1974, and Stephanie Scott, staff at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, lay down a ceremonial cloth with the names of 2,800 children who died in residential schools and were identified in the National Student Memorial Register, during the Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Students who win the Orange Shirt Society’s annual Orange Shirt Day art contest will now receive an in-person visit with Phyllis Webstad through Tolko Industries Ltd. Society president Jerome Beauchamp said Tolko’s contribution to the t-shirt contest is outstanding, and telling of their commitment to Indigenous communities, supporting education about residential school impact and the belief that ‘every child matters.’ L-R: Tolko woodlands manager Kevin Sytsma with Phyllis Webstad, Jerome Beauchamp and Joan Sorley of the Orange Shirt Society (Rebecca Dyok photo)

Forest products company to sponsor annual nation-wide Orange Shirt Day art contest

Tolko gives support to Orange Shirt Day Society

Students who win the Orange Shirt Society’s annual Orange Shirt Day art contest will now receive an in-person visit with Phyllis Webstad through Tolko Industries Ltd. Society president Jerome Beauchamp said Tolko’s contribution to the t-shirt contest is outstanding, and telling of their commitment to Indigenous communities, supporting education about residential school impact and the belief that ‘every child matters.’ L-R: Tolko woodlands manager Kevin Sytsma with Phyllis Webstad, Jerome Beauchamp and Joan Sorley of the Orange Shirt Society (Rebecca Dyok photo)
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson speaks to media during the Liberal cabinet retreat at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020.They blighted Indigenous lives for more than a century. Now their creation is being formally recognized as one of the events that helped shape today’s Canada The federal government has put residential schools on the official roster of National Historic Events. Two of the schools, one in Nova Scotia and one in Manitoba, have been named National Historic Sites — the first in Canada to be so marked. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Sudoma

Sites to be commemorated: Residential schools recognized as ‘historic event’

Doing so was one of the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson speaks to media during the Liberal cabinet retreat at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020.They blighted Indigenous lives for more than a century. Now their creation is being formally recognized as one of the events that helped shape today’s Canada The federal government has put residential schools on the official roster of National Historic Events. Two of the schools, one in Nova Scotia and one in Manitoba, have been named National Historic Sites — the first in Canada to be so marked. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Sudoma
Orange Shirt Society founder Phyllis Webstad is working with filmmaker Sean Stiller as part of a documentary film by Royal Canadian Geographic. (Rebecca Dyok photo)

New documentary to showcase B.C. residential school survivor and salmon

The 45-minute film to feature Orange Shirt Society founder Phyllis Webstad

Orange Shirt Society founder Phyllis Webstad is working with filmmaker Sean Stiller as part of a documentary film by Royal Canadian Geographic. (Rebecca Dyok photo)
Marnie Brenner is currently in her first term as councillor with the Williams Lake City Council. (Williams Lake Tribune file photo)

City councillor apologizes after remarks spark call to resign by Williams Lake Indian Band

Marnie Brenner issued a statement Thursday afternoon offering her ‘sincere’ apology

Marnie Brenner is currently in her first term as councillor with the Williams Lake City Council. (Williams Lake Tribune file photo)
Maggie Smith on Feb. 2, 2020 in front of the building she lived in as a young girl from 1968 to 1971 at St. Mary’s Residential School in Mission. (Facebook)

Maggie and Tim: B.C. residential school survivor turns to faith, forgiveness in mourning son

A young man’s tragic death and his mother’s survival through hardship

Maggie Smith on Feb. 2, 2020 in front of the building she lived in as a young girl from 1968 to 1971 at St. Mary’s Residential School in Mission. (Facebook)
Flanked by her daughter Sarah and eldest son Jared, Maggie Smith holds a photograph of her son Tim Postma who died on the streets of Chilliwack on Jan. 22, 2020. (Paul Henderson/ The Progress)

Maggie and Tim: A residential school survivor and her son who died on B.C. streets

Part one of a two-part series on a young man’s tragic death and his mother’s survival through hardship

Flanked by her daughter Sarah and eldest son Jared, Maggie Smith holds a photograph of her son Tim Postma who died on the streets of Chilliwack on Jan. 22, 2020. (Paul Henderson/ The Progress)
Williams Lake Indian Band elder Mary Thomas shares her residential school survivor story during a School District 27 Orange Shirt Day celebration in Williams Lake’s Boitanio Park Friday. Monica Lamb-Yorski photo

B.C. Grade 8 student pens letter to premier on residential schools

Terrace teen writes current school curriculum underplays past violations of basic human rights

  • May 2, 2018
Williams Lake Indian Band elder Mary Thomas shares her residential school survivor story during a School District 27 Orange Shirt Day celebration in Williams Lake’s Boitanio Park Friday. Monica Lamb-Yorski photo