Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Carol Lavallee spent Thursday afternoon at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan listening to members of Cowessess First Nation sing, dance and pray.
More than 60 years ago, she would have been inside the now-demolished school, looking out a window and dreaming of freedom.
Lavallee was forced to attend the school when she was six years old, and stayed there from 1957 to 1967.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark Canada's first Truth and Reconciliation Day, she said she had to come to terms with returning to the spot where the school once stood.
"Land is sacred to Indigenous Peoples. I couldn't say this land was sacred because I suffered here," Lavallee said. "Horrible things happened to me here."
She said the Catholic Church drilled the Ten Commandments into the students.
"Thou shall not steal -- and here they stole everything from us. Our spirits, our parents. Everything that was precious to us they stole from us," said Lavallee.
In June, the First Nation announced it had used ground-penetrating radar to discover as many as 751 graves near the school site.
Chief Cadmus Delorme said the First Nation has since identified about 300 unmarked graves.
Not all were believed to belong to children. Catholic Church parishioners are thought to have been buried there, as well as members of neighbouring communities.
The First Nation worked with historical records from the Roman Catholic Church, the RCMP and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to put names to the unmarked graves.
They also relied on people's oral stories.
"It's progress. It's relief. It's validating," said Delorme.
But the healing journey doesn't stop there,he added.
"To know that there were once windows behind us, where our family members looked out and they should not be able to sing, dance, or pray -- we're doing that."
Lavallee said she is happy the residential school is gone and spends her time helping other survivors.
She said she follows the seven Indigenous teachings of respect, humility, love, truth, honesty, wisdom and courage.
She is not a survivor, Lavallee said, but a victor.
"Because they didn't kill enough in me. I still love. I still help. I still share."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2021
-----------------------------------
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.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.