We are mourning the 215 children found at the former Kamloops Residential School site alongside Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, all Residential School survivors, and all families affected by Residential Schools.
Because every child matters, because every child is sacred, we join First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities across Turtle Island in calls to identify and return every child found at the former Kamloops Residential School home to their families and communities. We also echo calls to use ground-penetrating radar to locate and to identify and return home all children who are missing and murdered in Residential Schools at the hands of the churches and the Government of Canada.
We recognize and condemn the ongoing genocide against First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples and refuse false narratives claiming it only happened in the past.
We recognize that there are more First Nations, Metis and Inuit children in colonial state “care” today than were in Residential Schools, and join First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples in calling for repatriating resources to their communities so that their children can be cared for on their home territories by their families and communities.
We call on the Government of Canada to halt its court battle against the Canadian Human Rights Commission ruling that it owes financial compensation to Indigenous children who were taken into care and fully live up to the child-first Jordan’s Principle.
We call on the Government of Canada and on all provinces and territories to urgently and comprehensively implement all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action and the Calls for Justice delivered by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, in partnership and consultation with First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples, communities and organizations – and call on the Government of Canada to immediately release its response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. We offer gratitude to Dan and Mary Lou Smoke and all Elders, leaders and community members who have guided its development.
We commit to implementing the TRC Calls to Action and the Calls to Justice delivered by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People that speak to our work as CASID and as individuals, including by striving to be strong allies as described in the Calls for Justice for All Canadians (section 15).
Support is available for anyone affected by the ongoing trauma of residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports. Please contact the Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free at 1-800-721-0066, or the 24 hour crisis line at 1-866-925-4419.
The CASID Executive Committee, admin@casid-acedi.ca