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Canadian Leader Apologizes To Aboriginals

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The Associated Press

Published: June 12, 2008

OTTAWA - In a historic speech, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized Wednesday to Canada's native peoples for a former government policy of forcing their children to attend state-funded schools aimed at assimilating them.

The treatment of children at the schools where they were often physically and sexually abused was a sad chapter in the country's history, he said from the House of Commons in an address carried live across Canada.

"Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in our country," he said, as 11 aboriginal leaders looked on just feet away.

Indians packed into the public galleries and gathered on the lawn of Parliament Hill.

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indian children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society.

Hundreds of former students came to the House of Commons and saw what native leaders call a pivotal moment for Canada's more than 1 million Indians, who remain the country's poorest and most disadvantaged group.

There are more than 80,000 surviving students. Among those attending was the oldest school survivor, 104-year-old Marguerite Wabano.

"The government of Canada now recognizes that it was wrong to forcibly remove children from their homes and we apologize," Harper said.

"We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, and that it created a void in many lives and communities and we apologize," Harper said.

Harper also apologized for failing to prevent the children from being physically and sexually abused at the schools.

Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and one of the leaders seated near Harper, wore a traditional native headdress and he and other Indian leaders were allowed to speak from the floor after opposition parties demanded it. One man banged his drum during ovations after the day's speeches.

"Finally, we heard Canada say it is sorry," Fontaine said.

He said the apology will go a long way toward repairing the relationship between aboriginals and the rest of Canada.

The government earlier admitted that abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recall being beaten for speaking their native languages and losing touch with their parents and customs.

In 1998, Canada's former Indian affairs minister Jane Stewart expressed "profound regret" for the establishment of the schools. But Indians didn't consider that apology sufficient because it didn't address the policy of assimilation or deal with the abuses.

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