American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
As residential school survivors seek to heal from trauma that has stretched across generations, some see no path forward without a formal apology from the Pope on Canadian soil.
Such an apology is one of the 94 calls to action the Truth and Reconciliation Commission put forth back in 2015.
"We have asked that he comes to our sacred land and issue that apology and acknowledge the damage and the hurt and the harm that the Catholic church has done to our survivors and intergenerational trauma survivors," said Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald.
One such survivor is Roland Desjarlais, who in the 1950s spent nine years at the Muskowekwan Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, a stone's throw away from his actual home.
"I was born and raised over there about a hundred yards," he told CTV National News while at the site of the former residential school. "I was about seven years old looking at my mother and I could not go see her."
In the dorms where children slept, silent tears would flow, Desjarlais said. The trauma of being at the school was too much for some -- wetting the bed was common -- only leading to further humiliation.
"We'd have to take our sheets down with us and they would put the sheets over our heads," he said. "We'd stand in the middle while all the rest of the kids ate their suppers around us, and we'd stand with the wet sheets over our heads."
Stories like these haunt residential school survivors across the country who are still in search of healing.
Last week, Canada's Catholic bishops offered an olive branch to Indigenous communities with a joint apology, followed by a pledge this week of $30 million within five years to go toward healing and reconciliation initiatives across the country.
Although some Indigenous leaders, Archibald among them, are skeptical of the church after unfulfilled financial promises in the past.
As for a papal apology, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) announced in June that a delegation of Indigenous leaders would visit the Vatican in December to address the issue.
"We are hoping that and we're exploring the possibility of an apology after listening to the survivors that Pope Francis would respond in the appropriate way," William McGrattan, co-treasurer of the CCCB, told CTV National News.
But Archibald refuses to visit the Vatican, as the Pope has been asked to come to Canada instead.
"I will not travel halfway around the world to maybe get an apology," Archibald said. "That doesn't make any sense."
Apology or no apology, survivors like Desjarlais are still faced with the trauma of residential schools.
Desjarlais has tried to put it behind him by focusing on forgiveness and the future.
"Try to walk away from anger and look forward," he said. "I've learnt to accept what was and move on with my own life."
----------
If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
The United States vetoed a widely backed UN resolution Thursday that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent.
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.