Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
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.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
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.