Statement made on 11 June 2008 by Senator Aurélien Gill (retired)
Hon. Aurélien Gill:
Honourable senators, more than 100
years after passing a law aimed at assimilating Aboriginal children, our
government will finally make a formal apology for the harm done by forced
attendance at residential schools.
For 50 years, many children were
humiliated, uprooted and abused in a system funded by the federal government.
The suffering inflicted on students was felt by generation after generation.
Even our youngest children are affected today.
The gesture the Prime Minister is
going to make is appreciable and appreciated. I hope that today's apology will
allow the victims to heal and to regain their dignity and pride. Obviously, it
is up to them alone to judge the sincerity of the apology and accept it or not.
I congratulate all those who had
the courage and determination to bring the truth about this dark chapter in Canada's
history into the light of day.
Yes, this formal apology is
necessary, and I support it completely. But it must not cause us to lose sight
of the fact that Canada's
Aboriginal peoples are still second-class citizens in this country.
Socio-economic statistics regularly
prove this. If you have any doubt, just visit a reserve or talk to people who
have. There are still places in Canada
where 23 people live in a three-bedroom house and share one bathroom. Senator
Keon, who visited Kasheshewan on Monday, knows something about this.
We must do more than pay lip service
to the abject poverty in which our Aboriginal peoples are living. Something
concrete, something different, must be done, and done quickly.
This is the second time the
Government of Canada has made such an apology. Because this is just a first
step, I urge the government to proceed immediately with the next steps, so that
Aboriginal Canadians can finally become full citizens of this country.