With feelings of grief, shame and anger, we, the faculty and staff of St. Paul’s University College, wish to express our deep distress at the news that the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found buried at the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. We offer our sincere condolences to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, and all survivors of the residential school system, their families and the communities who have been harmed by these atrocities and continue to suffer their impact to this day.
We acknowledge the role of government, churches, social agencies, and educational institutions in perpetuating a racist and genocidal system, and their culpability for horrendous crimes against Indigenous children and communities. We call upon the Canadian public and authorities to support the ongoing search for accountability and to implement the calls to action as expressed in the TRC’s final report. We reject all forms of violence against children, women and all Indigenous persons, and, as an institution of higher learning, we recognize with humility our responsibility to seek justice and healing through education and community engagement in order to promote Indigenous history, rights and culture.