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.
Warning: Details in this story may be disturbing for some
Evelyn Korkmaz spent four years at St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont., beginning when she was 10 years old.
On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Korkmaz is sharing the legacy of trauma and suffering she endured while she was forced to attend the school.
Stories from St. Anne’s paint some of the most horrific treatment of Indigenous children in Canada, with reports of children being put in straight jackets for punishment.
“There was an electric chair at St. Anne’s,” Korkmaz said to CTV National News.
For some, the discovery of unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Residential School in B.C. this spring was their first look at the genocidal colonial history that created the intergenerational trauma wrought by the church-run institutions from the 1870s to 1996.
But for the more than 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children who were forced to attend residential and so-called Indian Day schools, that legacy full of rape, abuse and death condoned by, and crafted by the churches and the Canadian government is something they have had to live with for decades.
Korkmaz and other survivors from St. Anne’s have been locked in a long legal battle with the federal government and the Catholic Church to receive compensation for the abuses they suffered, as federally appointed adjudicators have doubted their credibility and claims of severe abuse.
Korkmaz says that there are some 12,000 police documents that would prove their claim.
“I have a right to know about what happened to me,” she said. “Why my perpetrators raped me.”
The Ontario Supreme Court ruled that the records be released in 2014, but they were heavily redacted – something Korkmaz finds unacceptable.
“If you or I were not to follow court orders, we would be picked up at our door and put away,” she said.
The federal government has not committed to ending their legal battle against the survivors of St. Anne’s, a process that has cost them millions over the years.
But advocates say any hope of reconciliation is null without the truth.
“I think that any government should stop fighting Indigenous people,” said Stephanie Scott of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to CTV National News. “I think its time to move forward in this country to resolve all outstanding matters.”
On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, that call has echoed across the country as communities march and hold ceremonies in solidarity with First Nation, Metis and Inuit survivors of the residential school system – and those who never made it home.
While the unredacted documents from St. Anne’s have still not been released to survivors, Korkmaz and others like her say that will not give up until they are properly compensated for the abuse they suffered.
---------
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.