June 2, 2021
The UNE membership has been deeply affected by the discovery of 215 Indigenous children’s remains at the site of the former residential school in Kamloops BC.
Not only is this an almost unspeakable atrocity, within the nation we call Canada, but this has deeply affected many of our members, especially those who work as public servants with Indigenous Services Canada, (ISC) and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC).
It is most difficult for our members to concentrate on work and family-related tasks when this pall of shame confronts them in dealing with their employer and to Indigenous peoples they serve.
Everyone needs to do more than display a backdrop, draped in orange, that states “Every Child Matters”.
We demand that the federal government search all residential school sites, and repatriate all those buried at Kamloops, and all other residential school sites, regardless of cost, and as expediently as possible. We also demand the federal government stop fighting St. Anne’s Residential School survivors in court over the release of documents.
You can read PSAC’s statement on this critical issue.
Respectfully submitted and in Solidarity,
Kevin King
UNE National President