Ottawa, ON - Unceded Traditional Territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation - Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
Thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children never returned home from residential schools. Many were buried in gravesites that are unrecorded, unmarked and unprotected.
Today, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and Stephanie Scott, Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), announced the establishment of the National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials to ensure Indigenous communities have access to independent, trusted and expert information in their efforts to identify, locate, and commemorate their missing children.
The National Advisory Committee brings together individuals with a wide-range of experience and expertise in areas such as Indigenous laws and cultural protocols, forensics, archeology, archival research, criminal investigations, communication and working with Survivors. The National Advisory Committee is guided by a Circle of Survivors, comprised of two First Nations Survivors, two Inuit Survivors, and two Métis Nation Survivors.
On July 19, 2022, the National Advisory Committee held its inaugural meeting where they discussed how to best support the work already being undertaken by Survivors, their families and communities. Through engagement with Indigenous communities and organizations, the National Advisory Committee will help ensure that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation governments and communities have access to the best available information to support their efforts.
Addressing the harms suffered by Survivors, their families and communities is at the heart of reconciliation and is essential to renewing and building relationships between Indigenous Peoples and all Canadians.
