B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Ivy Lynn Bear, a residential school survivor from Cowessess First Nation in southern Saskatchewan, says she and her family members continue to feel the shame that was "instilled in them" by the priests and nuns at the school.
Bear told CTV National News that she attended the Marieval Residential School while she was in Grade 3, around 1975 or 1976. While she only attended the school for roughly four months, she said she witnessed terrible abuse.
"It was short lived, but there was trauma," Bear said.
In June, Cowessess announced that 751 unmarked graves were discovered at the site of the former Marieval Residential School using ground-penetrating radar. Work to identify those children buried on the site continues, and community leaders say markers will be made in the near future.
Bear is the fifth generation in her family to survive attending the school. She recalled the painful memories of comforting her youngest sister at night, until she was barred from doing so.
"I was hearing her at night crying 'Mommy, Mommy,' and on one particular night I saw one of the nuns come and take her away to another room, thinking that the nun was supporting her and consoling her," she said.
"I had no idea she was abusing her."
Speaking on the grounds of the former school during Cowessess' ceremony in honour of Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Bear said the horrors she experienced at Marieval stole her innocence.
Bear added that the abuse her parents experienced at the school rippled through the rest of her family.
"Children had to depend on each other and not be able to depend on their parents because their parents were so affected by residential school that there was no love there," Bear said. "Nobody told me that they loved me. Nobody told me that they cared about me."
Bear said she decided to get help in dealing with the trauma she experienced, as well as the intergenerational trauma her parents and grandparents passed down to her, in 1995 and checked herself into a treatment centre.
She said she is proud that her children have since seen the "peace" she has found.
"I couldn't find peace with somebody, I had to go find that peace on my own and that peace comes from the Creator. That's my savior, that's my guide, that's who I follow," Bear said.
At Cowessess, leaders held a community feast and powwow on the grounds of the former school to mark Thursday's annual holiday. Other survivors also shared stories, while performers offered strength and healing through dance.
Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme said the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important step for Canadians to better understand the pain and trauma many Indigenous people went through at these facilities.
Speaking during Thursday's ceremony, Delorme told those who gathered at Cowessess that the day is an emotional one. Delorme acknowledged that Canadians want to stand with Indigenous people in recognizing the harm experienced at residential schools.
"You're putting your shield down and you're starting to admit that you really don't know much about the true history between Cowesses and Indigenous people and all of Canada," he said.
"We gather here today to have a better understanding," he added.
Delorme said getting to reconciliation will not take one day, but rather "one day at a time."
"The truth is hard to accept, even as Indigenous people, the truth is even hard for us to reimagine it because we try to bury it in a way. But we cannot move to reconciliation until we accept the truth," he said.
Communities across Canada took part in ceremonies and events to honour Indigenous survivors and children who disappeared from the residential school system on Thursday.
The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996, with more than 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children forced to attend the facilities between the 1870s and 1996, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
The facilities were designed to strip Indigenous people of their culture and language, and replace them with a Christian faith and the English language. There were 139 residential schools in the federally funded program, many of which were run by the Catholic Church.
The TRC's final report estimates that 6,000 children died while attending the schools, although many say the number could be as high as 15,000.
---------
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.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
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.