At the invitation of Elders and Survivors from Île-à-la-Crosse, President Caron will join the community’s remembrance ceremonies on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
President Caron shared that, “This year’s theme for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is Remembering the Children. That fact that so many Métis Survivors remain forgotten and ignored is an ongoing disgrace that must be addressed.”
Despite the official recognition of the Métis as a distinct Indigenous people in the Constitution Act of 1982, former students of both the Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School and the Timber Bay/Montreal Lake Children’s Home, as well as many Métis students across the Homeland, were excluded from formal recognition, compensation payments and healing supports through IRSSA.
The Métis National Council stands with the Métis Nation - Saskatchewan and the Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School Survivors. All Survivors, regardless of the type of school they attended, who ran it, or who it was funded by deserve recognition, compensation and equitable support in their deeply personal healing journeys.
“We stand in awe of the strength and grace of Métis Survivors. Many of these Survivors have been unable to begin or continue their healing journeys because their stories have remained untold or pushed aside,” added President Caron. “These Survivors deserve justice and healing. It is time for the Catholic Church, federal government, and province of Saskatchewan to step up and do the right thing.”