Indigenous leader Phil Fontaine expects Pope to apologize 'on First Nations land'

ROME -

Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says he believes Pope Francis will apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system.

“Our expectation is very clear and strong that Pope Francis will apologize,” Fontaine told CTV National News on Tuesday. “Our hope is that he will come to Canada to apologize. He’s already made a commitment that he will visit Canada, and so there is an expectation and hope that he will apologize in Canada on First Nations land.”

Fontaine spoke with CTV National News and Indigenous Circle Reporter Donna Sound in Rome. Fontaine is one of 32 delegates meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican this week to discuss reconciliation between the Catholic Church and First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Canada.

Fontaine led the Assembly of First Nations as national chief from 1997 to 2000, and was also chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. A residential school survivor, Fontaine was one of the first Indigenous leaders in Canada to speak out about the physical, sexual and psychological abuses endured at the schools.

"I had no idea what the fallout would be," Fontaine told CTV National News’ Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme in Rome of his testimony about his time at the Fort Alexander Residential School in Manitoba. "I didn't know if Canadians would care. I didn't know what the reaction from the Church would be. I didn't know if the government was interested."

Phil Fontaine speaks with CTV National News’ Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme in Rome. (CTV National News)

Following the discovery of unmarked graves at the sites of some of Canada's former residential schools, the stories of survivors have been brought to the forefront.

"The whole world is watching and the pivotal moment in that shift was of course the 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops (that) shocked the nation," Fontaine said. "It changed everything, it completely changed everything." 

Beginning in the late 1800s, approximately 150,000 Indigenous children were separated from their families and forced to attend residential schools, facilities that aimed to replace their languages and culture with English and Christian beliefs. Most were run by the Catholic Church.

Numerous cases of abuse and at least 4,100 deaths have been documented at the former residential schools, where thousands of confirmed and unmarked graves have been found. Canada’s last residential school closed in 1996.

Fontaine says other issues are also being discussed at the Vatican.

“Central to all of what has transpired over the years, in addition to abuse in residential schools, is the land: the land that was taken from us,” Fontaine explained. “The Catholic Church was complicit in that process, and so we wish to be able to reclaim our lands. And I’m absolutely certain that the Catholic Church will be very supportive in that process.”

Fontaine hopes the Catholic Church will also play a role in the economic development of Indigenous communities, much like the U.S. did in post-war Europe with the Marshall Plan.

“We’ve had numerous discussions with them, even including talking about a Marshall Plan to revitalize Indigenous communities, in the way that Europe was revitalized after the Second [World] War,” Fontaine said.

Fontaine was previously part of an Assembly of First Nations delegation that met with Pope Benedict at the Vatican in 2009. This time, he travelled with his daughter and granddaughters.

"I want to have a feeling when I get on the plane that things are actually changing, things are in motion and this isn't just going to be a cultural moment, a flash in the pan," Fontaine's granddaughter Aluk told LaFlamme. "It's going to be something that sticks and we're all committed as a country to something better for all of us. That's what I hope."

While he doesn’t expect an official papal apology during the trip, Fontaine is confident one will be delivered in Canada.

“He could apologize here, but if he apologizes here, that shouldn’t excuse him from delivering an apology on Canadian soil, because this is what we’ve been asking for,” he said from Rome. “We’ve been reminded a number of times that the pope will apologize and that he’s also committed to come to Canada, so we’re on our way.”

Watch the full interview with Fontaine and his family above or on CTVNews.ca.