Trudeau puts on a brave face and gently reminds us that “People are hurting and we must be there for the survivors.” In a sombre tone, he says: “Sadly, this is not an exception or an isolated incident. We’re not going to hide from that. We have to acknowledge the truth.“
“Truth.” That’s a funny word. 215 dead children. They were buried by their jailers, but their “truth” has now finally come to light. But that statement’s not entirely accurate, is it? Their “truth” has always been known. It’s been known by their families and by their killers. It’s been known by our churches and by our governments. And we’ve know about their “truth” too, you and I, but we don’t like to talk about it.
And this isn’t the first time such a “truth” has surfaced. It keeps happening again, and again, and again. How many times do we need to be reminded of the “truth” before we do something about it?
We need action, and we need it now. Those 215 dead children are not a relic of the past. Those little, broken bodies have lined the path that we’ve traveled as a country. They’ve led us to where we are right now as a society. And we really need to take a long, hard look back down that terrible path, and we need to think about where we want to go from here.
We need to stop talking about “truth,” and start doing something about it. What does it mean to possess the “truth” if you refuse to act on it? What does it mean to know the “truth,” and still do nothing to right the wrong? This is the essence of complicity. Don’t just shake your head at the crimes of your forebears and lament their despicable actions. That’s pathetic and evasive. We need to take responsibility, and we need to do it now. We need to do something about it, and we need to do it now.
The tragedy of the residential schools is not ancient history. It’s not a chapter in a history book. Just look around you. Really look. The tragedy is still unfolding, right here. The tragedy is still ongoing, right now. The tragedy is bleeding out in front of your very eyes. And make no mistake: all of our hands are dirty. Your hands are dirty. My hands are dirty.
Words without deeds are both an insult to the past and a harbinger of a bleak and inhumane future. All of us need to look in the mirror and expect more from ourselves. All of us need to reach out to our friends and neighbours and demand urgent action from our political leaders. This is not the time for debate and scoring points; this is not the time for politics as usual. This is about the very soul of our nation, about who we aspire to be as a people. Those little broken bodies should be the very top priority of every person and every government in this country.
nothing but zeroes 
I agree: we need to act. As always, well said. But what can we do? This isn’t meant as a challenge, just an honest inquiry. The enormity of this crime (and too many others like it) not to mention the ravages it has caused are so overwhelming it makes it hard to even imagine the kind of action a lone person might take. This helplessness isn’t an attempt to absolve me of responsibility (I’m not throwing my hands up and saying “Nothing I can do”). I’m only hoping to open a discussion among your readers about what actions should be undertaken.
If you are a catholic church member, lobby your priest, bishop,whatever to get the vatican to release the documents that they hold. Many residential school documents were destroyed by gov’t and the various churches that ran the schools but some docs were sent to Rome and hidden away. Start where you are. Use your privilege.
This is the saddest thing to contemplate upon. The thought of those children separated from their mothers and… it is absolutely unbearable. Canada has a horrifying past… but it is doing very little to rectify the present. They were invisible then, they are invisible now, and nobody cares. We are all sitting on their bones and crushing still more, with just more subtle means, this time. Rick is absolutely right – we are all complicit, and we are all good at giving lip service.