June 24, 2021
Green Party Leader statement – Marieval Indian Residential School
The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, following the revelations from Kamloops in British Columbia, is devastating news. This is causing much pain and grief, particularly among First Nations people, and guilt and shame among Canadians. As Dr. Marie Wilson, a former Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation said yesterday in the media, these little voices are calling to us to get our attention in a way the adults could not achieve with the release of the TRC report six years ago. These little voices are calling us to action. They don’t want us to be lost in pain, buried by grief, or paralyzed by guilt. Rather they want us to act: to act on behalf of indigenous children trapped in the child welfare system, to act on behalf of indigenous youth who are incarcerated, to act on behalf of indigenous children and youth who have lost hope and are contemplating taking their lives. These little voices are calling on all of us to ensure the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Actions are rapidly implemented here in New Brunswick and across Canada. I and my Green colleagues will be relentless in pressing the New Brunswick government to implement all the Calls to Action directed at them.