The Residential Schools Apology

As a rule, I do not favour governments issuing formal apologies for past deeds. It does us no good to drag up past mistakes and grievances. For the most part, we all know certain things were done by governments of the past that were inappropriate and sad: the persecution of the Dukhobors, the internment of Japanese Canadians in WWII, the Komagata Maru incident. But the years that have passed allow us a perspective not available to the people at the time, and to condemn those who made such decisions is to ignore all context and history. Yes, what was done looks horrible to us today. But some of our decisions will likely appear barbaric or idiotic to future generations and no good comes from bashing those who came before you. That being said, the aboriginals who were sent to government supported residential schools absolutely deserve an apology. Children were ripped from their families and their culture and were emotionally, physically and in some cases sexually abused. Instead of welcoming First Nations into the broader society, we sought to viciously assimilate them by means of abuse and torture. This was not a single act perpetrated years and years ago, nor was it a policy thought up during war time like the examples above. The residential schools remained open well into the 1980's. The schools ran for decades upon decades, pushing tens of thousands of aboriginal youth through their process of cultural erasure. And now there are generations of First Nations who do not know their culture, their language, their customs, or in some cases their family. It is understandable that the government wanted to bring aboriginals into the greater society, to welcome them into the fold like we do with so many immigrants today. But they did not integrate them, or welcome them, or work with them. Instead, they attacked and abused them for decades. The results of this exercise are grim and are present in today's society. Canada's treatment, even today, of some of its aboriginal peoples is an embarrassment for us all. This apology will go a long way to reconciling Canada with its aboriginal population, it will expedite the healing process, it will begin to bring aboriginals back into the rest of society, and this apology will help us bridge the wide gap between our violent past and an eventual bright future.