Senate report calls on Canada to force Catholic institutions to release boarding school data

Indigenous peoples continue to struggle to access complete and up-to-date data on Native American residential schools, according to a new report from the Senate Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples.

The report, Missing documents, missing childrenwas released Thursday and contains 11 recommendations to improve access to boarding school records. One of the recommendations is that the Canadian government should force Catholic institutions to release documents to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

“It’s incredibly important that the support of survivors and families brings closure because everyone ages,” said Senator Brian Francis, a Mi’kmaw from Lennox Island First Nation and chair of the committee.

“The sooner we get answers, the better.”

The committee promised to hold additional hearings following its July 2023 report, Tribute to the Children Who Never Came Home: Truth, Education and Reconciliation, to better understand why some government and church bodies have not forwarded their requests to the NCTR.

The committee held ten hearings between September 2023 and April 2024.

There were 39 witnesses who indicated that there were obstacles in locating, accessing and assessing documents that may contain important information about the lives and deaths of Indigenous children in boarding schools.

Some of these barriers were legal, others were related to policies within the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. There was a lack of resources for translation, transcription or digitisation.

“A number of things I heard in the testimony were that there are jurisdictional issues. Some of the documents are spread across many different geographic areas in Canada. Documents are improperly filed,” Francis said.

“There were a couple of other things that struck me: the lack of adequate funding to get the job done properly.”

The report states that some invitees to appear before the commission either never responded or refused to appear. This includes the provincial archives of Alberta and the civil registries of Manitoba and Quebec.

The NCTR said in an emailed statement that it fully supports all recommendations, particularly those regarding the transfer and release of data entrusted to it.

The center is actively working with governments and church authorities to gain access to documents that never went to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Executive Director Stephanie Scott said in the statement.

“We depend on their cooperation, transparency and collaboration. Without them, we will not have a complete picture of this country’s history regarding the treatment of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, what happened to the missing children and where their families can find them,” she wrote.

“Time is of the essence: every day, survivors grow older, we lose them, and they, along with their families and communities, deserve to know the truth.”

According to the Senate report, agencies with outstanding records in 2023 included Library and Archives Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, the governments of the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan, and several church institutions.

According to Francis, several witnesses found additional documents after receiving the commission’s invitation or before their testimony.

“Real, meaningful reconciliation… it is a marathon, not a sprint,” Francis said.

“Some things move slower than others, but here we have a clear roadmap… if these recommendations are implemented along the way, it will be done in a timely manner so that we have answers sooner rather than later.”

CBC News has reached out to the Ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Minister Gary Anandasangaree for comment.

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.