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.
Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.
In a world filled with written words, not being able to read them can be terrifying.
For Linda Jack, an Indigenous elder, it's also isolating and overwhelming.
"I can't read or write," Jack said. "When I walk down the street, go into stores and all that stuff, it's pretty hard for me."
Jack is a Cowichan elder, living on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
When she was a child, she was forced to attend St. Catherine's Day School in Duncan, B.C.
"They didn't help me learn at all. I felt like I was just tossed around from class to class with no one caring about my education."
St. Catherine's was one of Canada's 699 federally operated Indian Day Schools. They were established in 1920 and it's estimated close to 200,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis attended.
Like residential schools, day schools stripped Indigenous children of their culture and heritage.
Jack said when she was caught speaking her traditional language she was severely punished. "They pulled out some of my teeth after catching me talk in my own language."
Along with physical assaults, Jack said there was sexual abuse at the school she went to.
"I tried to commit suicide when I was growing up, like I must have been nine or 10 when I landed in the hospital," Jack said while holding back tears. "Because all of that sexual abuse that was happening to me. It was really hard on me."
On its own website, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada says many students who attended the schools "experienced trauma" and, in some cases, "abuse at the hands of persons entrusted with their care."
In addition to the pain she suffered at school, Jack had trouble at home.
Her father was also abused while attending the Kuper Island Residential School.
According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, it was a place of "many tragedies during its decades-long existence." One-hundred-and-twenty-one students are confirmed to have died at the school, which was founded by the Catholic Church.
"My late dad went through a rough life going to that school," she said. "He also couldn't read, became an alcoholic and was abusive to us kids."
Jack's entire family has a legacy of trauma linked to both day and residential schools. It's a cycle her son, Richard Charlie, has struggled to break.
Linda Jack and her son, Richard Charlie, in Nanaimo, B.C. (CTV News / Melanie Nagy)
"You know we are left with barriers," he said. "It is us children that are left with the rubble of the past."
The 35-year-old said his mother's lack of literacy meant she was never able to read him a story or follow a recipe to make him cookies.
"She couldn't do the simple things that many people take for granted. She wouldn't even take us to a new park since she couldn't read the signs and was afraid we would get lost."
Charlie admits he also had a tough time in school because there was no one who could help him with his homework. He didn't graduate until he was in his late 20s.
"Some days I feel like life is so tough, but then I look at my mom and I can't even imagine having to overcome that stuff," he said.
When it comes to adversity, however, Jack is resilient.
"I got goals. I believe in myself. I know what I want and don't want in my life today."
After years struggling with her own substance abuse, Jack is now sober. She is also determined to reclaim what she calls a stolen education.
"I feel that I got robbed big time," she said. "No education, no job and with that I couldn't do anything for a lot of years."
A class-action lawsuit, launched on behalf of Federal Indian Day School survivors, was settled in 2019.
It offered a minimum of $10,000 in individual compensation for harms associated with attending the schools.
A $200-million legacy fund was also established to support healing, wellness, education, language, culture and commemoration.
Jack would like to use some of those funds to establish a permanent learning group for Indigenous elders.
"I'm not the only one who can't read," she said. "We want to start a class from Monday to Thursday for four hours a day so that all the elders in our community can learn."
With the help of some good friends, like Doug Savory, Jack is hoping to launch the program this year.
"Linda has lived a life worse than our worst nightmares, yet she has not given up," said Savory. "They could not break her and thoughts of her future bring such radiant happiness."
The group for looking for volunteer teachers and any books that can be used to help people learn to read and write.
"I want to make sure that by next year I can learn to read a little more," said Jack. "I also want to do this for my people, those also struggling to read and write. We all deserve a proper education."
------
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.
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 group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
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.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
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.