Letters for leaders: Regina elementary students learning reconciliation

Two students at St. Peter Elementary School in Regina have written letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett as part of the Regina Catholic School Division's first annual Day of Education for Truth and Reconciliation. 

For Grade 5 student Caitlyn Olson, who was one of the letter writers, reconciliation means recognizing a wrong was done to someone, and taking the extra steps to try and make the situation right.

Reconciliation means asking for forgiveness or offering an apology for a wrong, said fellow letter writer and Grade 8 student Ella Chay.

Olson focused her letter on what she calls an inequality between urban schools and reserve schools. 

"In my school, we have heat but some children on reserve might worry about getting frostbitten fingers while taking notes in class," Olson said.

Inspired by Shannen's Dream

Chay's letter was inspired by Shannen's Dream, a youth movement named after young activist Shannen Koostachin.

Koostachin, who died in 2010 in a car accident, had appeared on Parliament Hill to advocate for safer and better education for Indigenous students in Canada.

"It's just really heartbreaking to know that just because they live outside of the city on reserves and they're living their cultures, that they get funded less than we do," Chay said.

Though most schools are provincially funded, schools on reserves are funded by Ottawa. One of the promises made by Justin Trudeau leading up to the 2015 federal election was a multi-billion dollar injection into Indigenous schooling.

Chay said learning about the abuses which went on in residential school made her sad.

"It changed my perspective of how we treat other people," Chay said.

"Just because they're a different culture or race, doesn't mean they should be treated any differently."