Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its interim report and a new historical publication titled They Came for the Children: Canada, Aboriginal Peoples, and Residential Schools in Vancouver today.
The TRC was established in 2008 to examine and make public the truth about Canada’s former Indian Residential Schools, a system designed to forcibly assimilate aboriginal children. From 1874 to 1996 more than 150,000 children were taken from their families and placed in church-run schools. They were prohibited from speaking their native languages and practicing cultural traditions, and physical, sexual, and emotional violence was commonplace.
Visit ICTJ's webpage on Canada and the TRC website for more information.
