‘Cuts to boarding school searches reflect disturbing denial,’ says headmaster

Officials with Indigenous Services Canada on Thursday told organizations and community leaders responsible for the search for missing children and unmarked burials at boarding school sites that their funding has been capped at $500,000 per year.

That ceiling is significantly lower than previous operating budgets and much lower than what organizations estimate is needed to continue work.

David Monias, Chief of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, joined the Zoom call.

“I am deeply shocked by the Canadian government’s decision to cap funds earmarked for unmarked burials at boarding schools at $500,000 per year,” he said.

“This reduction is not only inadequate, but also reflects a disturbing denial of the true scale and significance of this problem. It is essential to recognise that these cemeteries are crime scenes and as such must be protected, preserved and properly researched.”

Earlier this month, Pimicikamak reported that ground-penetrating radar had found 150 anomalies at the former site of St. Joseph’s Residential School, including a reported 59 unmarked graves in a nearby cemetery. Monias said 37 anomalies were also found off-site, more than a kilometer from the school.

The school, run by the Roman Catholic Church, operated in the community from 1912 to 1969 and served children from across northern Manitoba.

More work is needed to determine how many of the anomalies are unmarked burial sites. Monias said he initially assumed that was what Thursday’s Zoom meeting was about.

He told CBC Indigenous that he noticed that everyone remained silent when officials announced the cuts. He said only one person was allowed to speak before the meeting ended.

“I was surprised that they made the announcement and didn’t leave room for any input or feedback from the people who were in the Zoom meeting,” Monias said.

He called on the government to reconsider this decision and provide the necessary resources.

‘Naivety…or cynicism’

Stephanie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, said in an emailed statement that the funding cap is “a step in the wrong direction for reconciliation.”

“Funding must be determined based on need, not arbitrary formulas. That is the only way to fulfill Parliament’s promise that every Indigenous community would have the resources to locate and remember the children who never came home,” she said.

Scott Hamilton, a professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, who has worked closely with communities in the search for unmarked graves, said: “It’s either naivety on the part of the federal government that it’s not going to cost that much … or cynicism to drive communities to despair so they give up.

“I hope it’s the first one, because that’s something you can work with.”

Hamilton said the work organizations and communities are doing requires an unprecedented level of research and it has taken time to get that underway and build capacity for both project management and actual implementation.

“It is heartbreaking and, frankly, deeply insulting that the federal government is cutting the ground from under the feet of the communities that have taken on this monumental task,” he said.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said Canada has committed $323.1 million, including the $91 million announced in this year’s budget, to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action on missing children and burial information.

The statement said the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, established in June 2021, has approved 146 proposals totaling $216.6 million.

‘Culture of Impunity’: Special Interlocutor

Leah Redcrow, executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society, which represents survivors of the Blue Quills residential school in Alberta, said she met with ISC officials earlier this week. She said she learned about the cuts at that meeting and was told it was because they were awaiting the final report from the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.

“A conversation partner should only be a part of the conversation. They should not determine our outcome… They are the ones responsible for answering the calls to action. We are the ones who help them,” Redcrow said.

She said the Acimowin Opaspiw Society signed a multi-year funding agreement last year and existing agreements are not affected.

“If we have to go to $500,000 from April 1, I will have to lay off all my staff and the investigation cannot continue,” she said.

Special Convener Kimberly Murray said this was the third time the search funding structure had been changed and that her interim report released last summer pointed to a lack of sufficient long-term funding. She said this recommendation would be repeated in her final report and that it was “absolutely ridiculous” that the government said they were waiting for these recommendations when they were clearly not implementing them.

“But it’s also part of, for example, settler amnesty, right, and a culture of impunity… If we stop funding communities to do the work, then there will be fewer truths and, you know, fewer calls for justice and accountability, and they won’t have to abide by their international legal obligations,” she said.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support to survivors and those affected. People can reach emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the Hope for Wellness helpline at 1-855-242-3310 or via online chat.