Truth and reconciliation panel on residential schools complete
Minister names last two members of commission, work to begin June 1
The federal government has named the two final members of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is to begin its work June 1.
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl announced Tuesday that Jane Brewin Morley and Claudette Dumont-Smith are to sit on the commission that will hear personal stories from survivors of Canada's residential school system.
In April, Justice Harry LaForme was named the chairman of the three-member panel that was part of the government's out-of-court settlement with former students of the government- and church-run schools.
The aim of the five-year commission is to give a voice to those who suffered through the schools' systemic abuses and allow them to take steps toward healing.
Morley works as a lawyer, mediator and arbitrator and a public policy advisor.
Dumont-Smith is a registered nurse who has been actively involved in aboriginal health issues.
Justice LaForme was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in November 2004, becoming the first aboriginal person in Canadian history to sit on an appellate court.