Residential Schools Mass Graves of Kamloops the theme of Monday's Legislature proceedings

The horrific news from Kamloops of last week carried much of the conversation of the BC Legislature on Monday, from Premier John Horgan to interim Liberal leader Shirley Bond and most passionately from Green Party MLA Adam Olsen, British Columbia's elected officials tried to best express, as best they could, the sense of heavy heart as the Premier stated at the reports of the unmarked mass grave.

Of the many speeches made in the Legislature on Monday (the full archive of commentary available here) it was Mr. Olsen's who most captured the sense of the reality of the Residential Schools story that the MLA's were addressing on the day. 

His statement to the House one of a personal journey, a history lesson that should be heard and a calling to account of the need for action from all Canadians

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice was also part of the  Monday Legislature conversation, speaking prior to the  Legislature time allowed to the Kamloops  discussion. Her statement touched on a range of themes and was delivered from the MLA's Prince Rupert constituency at the start of Monday's afternoon session.

Skeena MLA Ellis Ross also addressed the Kamloops discoveries as part of Monday's session, his contribution coming in the Question Period for the day when he asked Premier Horgan what assistance that the BC government would be offering to the 203 First Nation communities to repatriate the children in the Kamloops grave.

"With all due respect, now is not the time to talk about UNDRIP or mandate letters from four years ago. It's not time for a stump speech. This tragedy is affecting Canadians, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike. People are crying. 

Put aside the politics for a second, everybody. The confirmation of an unmarked grave of 215 children has revived memories for many First Nations people. It confirms what many survivors from all over B.C., from 203 bands in B.C., have long said; there is a multitude of children who never made it home. For most of the history of these schools, the practise was not to send the bodies of students who died at schools to their home communities. 

My question. Can the Premier tell us, tell the province, tell the people of British Columbia, Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal alike, specifically what will this government be doing to work with the 203 First Nation communities in B.C. to repatriate these children?"

Premier Horgan noting with appreciation for the passion that Mr. Ross had in bringing the question forward, Mr. Horgan reinforcing previous themes of seeking true reconciliation.

The Skeena MLA next spoke to remind the Legislature that the discovery of the graves was not the burden of the Kamloops people alone to bear. 

"This is not my passion. This is my life. My parents, uncles, aunts, friends, acquaintances from other communities — from 203 communities in B.C.. This is not just a Kamloops issue. Children from all over B.C., from every single community, were sent to residential schools all across B.C. and Canada. This is not just the burden of the Kamloops people. 

They are to be commended for bringing this to light — for what we always were suspicious about, based on the stories of people like my parents. I look forward to everyone in this chamber taking the time to listen and act accordingly. Because I do agree that the time for action is long past. It's long past. I uncovered this in 2004. Everybody, at some point in their life, heard a story about this. 

The time for action is now, while the whole world is shocked and while Canadians want to know what is next. And so, for those who survived residential schools, for their families and friends who had to listen to the stories of the survivors and, of course, for the voices of the children that we will never hear. For the Premier. I hope he agrees, as I hope everybody in this House agrees, that we must do everything we can to return these children to their homes."

Mr. Ross has also been taking his commentary on the Kamloops story to his social media stream, recounting his own personal experiences through that information sharing platforms. 

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More background on the work of the BC Legislature can be explored here.