Special interlocutor still waiting for Canada’s response to report on disappeared residential school children

Canada has yet to provide a response to the independent official’s investigation that concluded children who died and were buried at Indian residential schools did not just go missing, but were disappeared by the state, making them victims of a crime against humanity.

Kimberly Murray, who was appointed as the special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with residential schools in 2022, informed senators this week that she has not heard back from Justice Minister Arif Virani a month after she delivered her final report to him in Gatineau, Que.

During her testimony before the Senate’s Indigenous affairs committee, Sen. David Arnot expressed his concern about the lack of response from the government. He emphasized the need for accountability and holding the executive branch of government responsible for the findings of the report.

Murray’s mandate was recently extended by six months, meaning that it will end in December. Time is running out for her to receive a response from the Canadian government while she is still in her position.

In her testimony, Murray questioned Canada’s commitment to uncovering the truth, citing federal restrictions on using public funds for certain types of investigations and a proposed funding cap on site searches that caused outrage and was later reversed by Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree.

Some senators expressed their struggle with how to respond to the report’s findings. Sen. Mary Jane McCallum, who herself attended a residential school at the age of five, voiced her frustration and exhaustion with the situation, highlighting the difficulty of seeking justice when the perpetrator is also responsible for delivering justice.

Murray reiterated the need for an Indigenous-led reparations framework and suggested referring the matter to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. She pointed out that Canada has not signed or joined various international human rights bodies and mechanisms that could provide justice, potentially granting itself blanket amnesty in the process.

The report focuses heavily on international legal obligations due to the lack of justice and accountability for the harms inflicted by the residential school system. The government estimates that 150,000 Indigenous children attended these schools, with over 4,000 documented deaths within the system.

As the government continues to review the report, advocates like Murray are pushing for accountability, justice, and recognition of the atrocities committed against Indigenous children in residential schools. The call for truth and reconciliation remains a crucial aspect of healing and moving forward in a way that acknowledges and addresses the historical injustices inflicted on Indigenous communities.