Canada PM sorry for 122 years of abuse of natives

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologised on Tuesday to natives for more than a century of abuses at boarding schools set up to assimilate Canada’s indigenous peoples, saying the burden of those experiences weighs heavily.

He was speaking to former students, chiefs and religious leaders at the unveiling of a final report on the schools, which left many boys and girls disconnected from their families, communities and feeling ashamed of being born native.

The previous administration officially apologised in June 2008 for the “cultural genocide,” as part of a Can$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion) settlement with former students.

It also launched a truth and reconciliation commission which urged Ottawa to increase funding for natives to address the disparity in academic performance with non-aboriginals.

Mr Trudeau pledged to implement this and 93 other recommendations in the report to help repair the damage caused by the schools.

“The burden of this experience has been on your shoulders for far too long,” Mr Trudeau said. “The burden is properly ours as a government, and as a country. Our goal as we move forward together is clear: it is to lift this burden from your shoulders, from those of your families, and communities. It is to accept fully our responsibilities and our failings as a government and as a country.”

Beginning in 1874, 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis children were forcibly enrolled in 139 boarding schools run by Christian churches on behalf of the Canadian government in an effort to integrate them into society.