Murray, a member of the Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation, will be tasked with working with Indigenous peoples to make recommendations to strengthen federal laws and practices for the protection and preservation of minor burial sites. “I promise to do my best to ensure that the ombudsman’s office is here to help and not hurt further in any way,” Murray told a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday. . “I’m ready to hear about the new unique barriers that your communities have had and continue to have as you do this sacred work.” Justice Minister David Lametti and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Mark Miller made the announcement along with Indigenous leaders on Wednesday. “This appointment presents a renewed opportunity to work together to build a positive therapeutic future for Indigenous peoples in Canada.” “It’s a crucial step in our journey towards reconciliation,” Lametti said.
WHAT IS A SPECIAL CONVERSATION?
As an expert interlocutor, Murray will help Indigenous communities overcome various legal and regulatory barriers at various landfills and facilitate dialogue with relevant governments and institutions, including churches. It will address issues related to the identification, preservation and protection of unmarked graves, including the repatriation of remains if desired. “I expect when I go to communities and meet the survivors and the leadership that I will hear about these discussions about how they have struggled with what to do, how to prosecute. Are we calling the police inside? Which police? RCMP, provincial police, municipal police, First Nations police? ” said Murray. “I look forward to talking to each of them, to hearing about the different ideas they have about what they can do on this path to justice.” He is expected to produce two reports – an interim report after the first year and the final report – both of which will be delivered to Ottawa, First Nations, Metis and Inuit survivors, communities and families. The reports will also be made public. It is a non-partisan, independent position, which Ottawa has allocated $ 10.4 million in two years to support. Miller said the role obliges the federal government to be accountable and ensures that it is not involved in a “painful” and “activating” process. “Kim Murray will fill a very important gap by ensuring that not only do we do things in a coordinated way at the federal level and support in the best way, but we also connect with communities and build a level of trust that will not be given to us honestly.” he said.
MURRAY PREVIOUS WORK
Most recently, Murray served as head of the Six Nations of the Grand River Survivors’ Secretariat to help recover minor graves at the Mohawk Institute – Canada’s longest-lived residential school. Prior to that, she served as First Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Indigenous Justice in Ontario and chaired the Indigenous Community Policing Expert Group. From 2010 to 2015, Murray was the Executive Director of TRC.
BURIAL FINDINGS
It has been a little over a year since the leader of the First Nation Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Rosanne Casimir said the remains of 215 children had been found at the site of the former Kamloops Residential Indian school. Although that number was later revised to 200, hundreds more trivial tombs have been identified across the country in the coming months, with dozens of additional investigations currently underway or planned. More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children, mostly from their families, were forced to attend boarding schools from the late 1800s to 1996, with the aim of replacing indigenous languages and cultures with English and Christian beliefs. The Liberals have been criticized for manipulating the revelations, particularly for their degree of sincerity in taking concrete action. Responding to Wednesday’s announcement, Conservative Crown-Indigenous’s critic Gary Vidal expressed skepticism. “For too long, indigenous peoples have waited for the liberal government to fulfill its empty promises and commitments to reconciliation. “It’s time to make the systemic changes that are needed to start selling the program delivery, in order to pursue a self-defined delivery model,” he told CTVNews.ca. NDP Indigenous services critic Lori Idlout, meanwhile, said the news was an “important step” towards healing, but noted that the delay in naming the interlocutor was “disappointing”. The government first announced its intention to create the post in August 2021. Months earlier, the Liberals had voted against a unanimous NDP consensus proposal calling on the government to set up an independent commission to oversee the collection of historical records, land surveys and indigenous community surveys. “The NDP continues to call on this government to provide every resource needed to achieve truth and justice owed to indigenous peoples. “The communities of First Nations, Inuit and Métis are still calling for increased support to heal these traumatic discoveries and today’s announcement does not change that reality,” Idlout said in a statement. With files from CTV News’ Mike Le Couteur
