Group wants city to recognize residential schools as genocide
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2023 (874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Members of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council will propose the city officially recognize Canada’s residential school system as genocide at Monday’s city council meeting.
On the agenda for Monday’s meeting is a presentation from Maeengan Linklater of Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council, a member of BUAPC.
According to a presentation attached to the meeting agenda, Linklater is expected to argue that Brandon join the House of Commons and Pope Francis in recognizing what happened at residential schools as an act of genocide.
Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) is expected to submit a motion regarding the declaration of residential schools as genocide at city council's meeting on Monday. (File)
BUAPC passed a motion along similar lines at its March 23 meeting.
It is estimated that 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to leave their home communities and attend residential schools, where many say they suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
In 2021, ground-penetrating radar detected 215 potential burial sites of children who died while attending the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, inspiring a nationwide effort to uncover similar sites at other schools and a reassessment of the harms of the system.
Brandon was home to a residential school from 1895 to 1972, originally run by the Methodist Church of Canada and then by the United Church of Canada after the organizations merged in 1925.
It was in the area now known as Turtle Crossing Campground along the Assiniboine River on Grand Valley Road.
During a visit to Canada last summer, Pope Francis described the system as genocide.
The House of Commons gave unanimous consent last October to a motion brought forward by Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan (NDP) stating, “That, in the opinion of the House that the government must recognize what happened in Canada’s Indian residential schools as genocide, as acknowledged by Pope Francis and in accordance with Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
According to Linklater’s presentation, the Brandon school was no stranger to the abuses present across the system, with children in the 1940s subjected to extra-sensory perception (ESP) experiments without the consent of their parents.
By acknowledging the harms of residential schools, Linklater states the city can set an example.
“The City of Brandon has an opportunity to add the course of Canadian history as it relates towards Canada’s efforts towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples — it needs to be fearless and step into the unknown country — to be an instrument of change that inspires healing, and focuses on the future,” the presentation reads.
On Monday, Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) — a member of BUAPC — is expected to submit this motion for city council’s approval: “That, in the opinion of Brandon City Council that the Government of Canada must recognize what happened in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools as genocide, as acknowledged by Pope Francis and in accordance with Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and recognized through unanimous consent by the House of Commons on October 27, 2022.”
Council will also hold second and third readings for a bylaw that would change the accommodation tax charged to guests at local hotels and motels from a flat fee of $3 per night to a levy of five per cent per night.
A representative of the Manitoba Hotel Association, Michael Juce, is scheduled to make a case against the tax increase earlier in the meeting.
Following discussion at a meeting held in March, council will hold first readings of two taxi-related bylaws — one to increase the maximum fares companies are allowed to charge and another to allow companies to use slightly older vehicles than is currently allowed.
Other items on the agenda include a presentation from Scott Haddow on National Compost Week, a presentation about the 2023 Softball Canada U15 Girls Championship, a vote on a $20,000 affordable housing expenditure and a report from the Western Manitoba Regional Library board.
» cslark@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @ColinSlark