A formal apology for the Church of England's role in Canada's residential school system.
A formal apology for the Church of England's role in Canada's residential school system.
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Michaela Grace started this petition to Governor General of Canada Julie Payette
Problem
Canada's Residential School system operated from the 1870's until as recently as the 1990's. Funded by the Canadian government, and administered by the Vatican and the Church of England, the main goal of these schools was to separate indigenous children from their cultures in order to assimilate them into western society. While attending these schools children were deprived of seeing their families and forced to speak English and French, and were reprimanded if caught using their own languages. Many of these children also experienced sexual, physical and all other types of abuse. It's estimated that around 150,000 children attended these schools and as many as 6,000 of them died. Whether it be by starvation, disease, suicide or murder, all deaths where ultimately caused by the hands of school officials. As mentioned before, many of these officials where priest's or nun's of the Church of England and the Vatican.
Solution
Canada's government issued an apology for their key role in this genocide in 2008. However the Vatican refused to apologize in March 2018 for the Catholic Church's role, much to the disappointment of Canadian's everywhere. Now it's time for the Church of England to be held accountable for their part in this atrocity. Queen Elizabeth II is head of the Church of England and she was for many years while these schools where still up and running. She even visited at least one of them herself in 1964, along with The Duke of Edinburgh. My goal is for this petition to reach Canada's Governor General, Julie Payette so that perhaps she can pass along this request for an apology from the church to Her Majesty. Canada's dream of Truth and Reconciliation cannot finally be realized until the truth is admitted and apologized for. An apology will definitely not solve everything, but it would be another landmark step forward on our path to reconciliation.
Personal story
I'm a 17 year old Canadian girl and I've witnessed the generational trauma indigenous people continue to experience because of the atrocities committed in these schools. How can we as a country be expected to move forward if an apology is never offered? Those few simple words we're longing for will not end this cycle of trauma, but if it manages to move our country forward even the smallest amount then it has done it's job.
Canada's Residential School system operated from the 1870's until as recently as the 1990's. Funded by the Canadian government, and administered by the Vatican and the Church of England, the main goal of these schools was to separate indigenous children from their cultures in order to assimilate them into western society. While attending these schools children were deprived of seeing their families and forced to speak English and French, and were reprimanded if caught using their own languages. Many of these children also experienced sexual, physical and all other types of abuse. It's estimated that around 150,000 children attended these schools and as many as 6,000 of them died. Whether it be by starvation, disease, suicide or murder, all deaths where ultimately caused by the hands of school officials. As mentioned before, many of these officials where priest's or nun's of the Church of England and the Vatican.
Solution
Canada's government issued an apology for their key role in this genocide in 2008. However the Vatican refused to apologize in March 2018 for the Catholic Church's role, much to the disappointment of Canadian's everywhere. Now it's time for the Church of England to be held accountable for their part in this atrocity. Queen Elizabeth II is head of the Church of England and she was for many years while these schools where still up and running. She even visited at least one of them herself in 1964, along with The Duke of Edinburgh. My goal is for this petition to reach Canada's Governor General, Julie Payette so that perhaps she can pass along this request for an apology from the church to Her Majesty. Canada's dream of Truth and Reconciliation cannot finally be realized until the truth is admitted and apologized for. An apology will definitely not solve everything, but it would be another landmark step forward on our path to reconciliation.
Personal story
I'm a 17 year old Canadian girl and I've witnessed the generational trauma indigenous people continue to experience because of the atrocities committed in these schools. How can we as a country be expected to move forward if an apology is never offered? Those few simple words we're longing for will not end this cycle of trauma, but if it manages to move our country forward even the smallest amount then it has done it's job.
0 have signed. Let’s get to 1,000!
At 1,000 signatures, this petition is more likely to be featured in recommendations!