 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament give Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine a standing ovation in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Wednesday, June 11, 2008. (Canadian Press photo)
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an historic apology to generations of aboriginals yesterday who were victims of a "sad chapter in our history."
Speaking in an emotionally charged House of Commons, Harper expressed regret and remorse for the horrific legacy that began in the 1870s and continued for many generations. The government's "assimilation" policy ripped roughly 150,000 children from their homes and communities and placed them in far-away boarding schools.
"The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language," Harper said in the Commons.
Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine brought many to tears when he called the apology "the achievement of the impossible."
"Finally we have heard Canada say it is sorry," he said.
Fontaine said the apology officially strips away a policy of "white supremacy." The assimilation process impoverished not just the aboriginal population, but the character of our country as a whole.
"We are, and always have been, an indispensable part of the Canadian identity," he said.
Survivors and native leaders, many wearing colourful ceremonial dress, cheered, beat drums and unleashed tears of heavy emotion from the floor and upper galleries. The few permitted to address the House said they accepted the PM's words as sincere, and expressed hope for a new beginning of healing and reconciliation.
Marguerite Wabano, the eldest survivor at age 104, received a rousing standing ovation as she entered the room with a cane.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion acknowledged his party was in power for 70 years in the last century, and shared responsibility on behalf of the Liberals.
"I am deeply sorry. I apologize," he said. "I am sorry that Canada wilfully attempted to eradicate your identity and culture by taking you away from your families when you were children and by building a system to punish you for who you were."
NDP Leader Jack Layton called the apology a "very important moment for Canada," as the government assumed responsibility for one of the most shameful eras of our history. But he insisted that concrete steps to improve the lives of aboriginals must follow this "crucial first step."
"Even as we speak here today, thousands of aboriginal children are without schools, clean water, adequate food, their own bed, good health care, safety, comfort, land and rights," he said. "We can no longer throw up our hands and say there is nothing we can do."
