help

collapse

Press one of the expand buttons to see the full text of an article. Later press collapse to revert to the original form. The buttons below expand or collapse all articles.

expand

collapse

Harper Apologizes to Indians

June 11, 2008 permalink

Today Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper apologized in parliament to aboriginals taken from their parents and raised in residential schools. His speech included the paragraphs:

We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions, that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this.

We now recognize that, in separating children from their families, we undermined the ability of many to adequately parent their own children and sowed the seeds for generations to follow, and we apologize for having done this.

These are good words. We hope the same sentiments can be applied to families today who are separated under pretext of child protection. That could avoid the requirement for a prime minister in a future generation to issue another apology.

You can read a transcript of the prime minister's remarks from the CBC or listen the the voice of Stephen Harper (mp3, 4.5 megabytes, obtained from the website of the prime minister).

sequential