Residential school survivors unhappy with stalled truth commission
The head of a national group representing former residential school students says he's losing faith in the federal government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is currently stalled.
"We're starting to view that the TRC as more and more of another government attempt to set up something for failure again," William Blackwater, president of the National Residential School Survivors Society, told CBC News.
The commission has been in limbo since October, when Justice Harry LaForme resigned as its chairman.
Its remaining commissioners, Claudette Dumont-Smith and Jane Morley, announced in January that they will step down effective June 1. A selection committee led by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci and composed of aboriginal and church leaders is in the process of finding new commissioners.
Interested applicants had until Friday to submit their applications.
The commission was created as a result of a settlement agreement negotiated in 2006 between former students, churches, the federal government, the Assembly of First Nations and other aboriginal organizations.
It is responsible for documenting the generations of abuse that took place in the government-funded, church-run schools and to find a way to move past those experiences.
Blackwater, a former residential school student himself, said former students are unhappy with how long it's taking for the commission to begin its work.
Blackwater said he is happy that Dumont-Smith and Morley are resigning, but he said he doesn't understand why they've delayed their resignations until June 1.
"If the two remaining commissioners don't have the authority to help move things along until the new commissioners are appointed — in June or whatever — why are they spending that huge amount of money on salaries and building rentals and stuff like that?" he said.
Former students feel they're fighting to tell the commission about their experiences, Blackwater said, adding that it's making students feel pain, anger and mistrust in the settlement process.