A long-awaited apology for residential schools in 2008

• 16 years ago
• Archives
• Duration 1:25:15

Warning: This video contains distressing details. In Parliament, Prime Minster Stephen Harper delivers an apology to residential school survivors and all Indigenous people in 2008. Complete live coverage from June 11, 2008. About 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend the government-funded residential schools from the 19th century to 1996, when the last one closed. They lived in substandard conditions and endured sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. The system was "cultural genocide," said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015. A 24-hour national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 to support former students and others affected by a residential school experience.