N.B. Indigenous leaders meet with premier to discuss plans for searching former 'day school' sites
Following the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a residential school in Kamloops, B.C., New Brunswick Indigenous leaders are working with the provincial government to survey the sites of their former "Indian day schools."
"We need to reconcile what's happened in the past and we need to build a future together and all the conversation was very real, very personal," said Premier Blaine Higgs.
More than 10 Chiefs and Elders of New Brunswick’s First Nations spoke with the Premier on Thursday.
Barry LaBillois, who is the president and Chief of the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council, took part.
"We talked about the day school down in Sussex. Not only that, we talked about that we have to have some type of recognition down there a plaque or something that this is where it is also work has to be done down there to sit back and say ok are there kids down here as well," LaBillois said. "It's important that we talk about the day schools that happened on the reserve as well and let the general public know of the issues that are out there."
The University of New Brunswick's history department is hoping to contribute resources to any Indigenous communities looking for archival information.
"We really just wanted to break down a barrier between a colonial institution like the university and to use our networks as a way to assist Indigenous communities in work that's already going on," said Dr. Erin Morton.
First Nations will be working with the province on next steps of bringing Indigenous history to light.
"(We're making) kind of a list of what they'd like to see, how we recognize the situation, how we make awareness, and how we move on from here so that's the next step is the request made there they wanted to formalize that to us so we all can understand how do we do this right and that's where we're headed is to do this right," said Higgs.
Higgs says there will be an investigation into 12 sites that were identified to determine whether there are unmarked graves.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.