The headlines across the country have been repeating this disgusting statistic since it was revealed by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in British Columbia on May 27 but it’s a hard one to wrap your mind around. And it’s just an estimate, nobody really knows how many young ones were dumped in this yard. Little humans with hopes and dreams, discarded like trash . . .

Of course, this has been deemed a “discovery” by media types but anyone in that community who had been paying attention knew that there were dead children buried in that yard. They just didn’t know how many of their friends and relatives were there, which goes to show how little the ghouls that ran these places cared for the children that were in their charge. They didn’t even bother documenting the names of many of these children or how they died. They didn’t care.

During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the estimated dead at this particular “school” was pegged at around 50. And the survivors of these institutions told the government that much, it’s just the government didn’t feel like paying the paltry amount that it costs to have ground penetrating radar searches of all the residential schools.

This is recent history. The people that ran these places are still alive in many cases and can be held accountable for their crimes. Any and all records of this atrocity need to be made public, and swiftly.

The Catholic sect that ran this institution, along with roughly half of Canada’s residential schools, has claimed that they’re not hiding anything.

Cardinal Thomas Collins, the archbishop of Toronto took the incomprehensible stance that a formal apology from the Pope wouldn’t be helpful.

“I’m sure there will be further contact with the Holy Father, but I don’t know whether seeking always some big and dramatic thing is really the way forward. I think step by step is better and working with other people,” he told the CBC.

Wowzers, the institution with a long and sordid history of protecting and enabling pedophiles is less than transparent and unwilling to admit fault. Big surprise.

It should be pointed out that this specific denomination isn’t the only church with blood on their hands when it comes to kidnapping Indigenous children, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

But just because our Justin Trudeau did his best to deflect the blame to the clergy, doesn’t diminish the fact that he’s the most powerful official in the land. The ball is in his court when it comes to making amends and legislating meaningful policy on this issue. But given the track record he’s accumulated, Canadians shouldn’t hold their breath.

This is a country where Ukrainian Nazi collaborators have public memorials for their dead and our prime minister apologizes to hundreds of suspected Italian fascists who were interned during World War II.

These people are not qualified or willing to enact meaningful change, and with a federal election on the horizon, they should be treated as such.

Caleb Nickerson

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