Funding cut for residential school searches 'reflects a troubling denialism,' says chief

Officials with the federal government told organizations and community leaders responsible for searches for missing children and unmarked burials at residential school sites Thursday their funding is being capped at $500,000 per year.

That cap is substantially less than previous operating budgets and much less than what organizations estimate is required to continue the work.

David Monias, chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, was on the Zoom call.

"I am profoundly dismayed by the Canadian government's decision to impose a cap of $500,000 per year on funds allocated for unmarked residential school burials," he said.

"This reduction is not only inadequate but reflects a troubling denialism regarding the true scale and significance of this issue. It is essential to recognize that these burial sites are crime scenes, and as such, they must be protected, preserved, and properly investigated."

Earlier this month, Pimicikamak reported that ground penetrating radar had found 150 anomalies at the former site of St. Joseph's Residential School, including what are believed to be 59 unmarked graves at a nearby cemetery. Monias said 37 anomalies were also found off-site, more than a kilometre away from the school.

The school, run by the Roman Catholic church, operated in the community from 1912 to 1969 and housed children from across northern Manitoba.

More work is needed to determine how many of the anomalies are unmarked burial sites. Monias said initially he assumed that's what Thursday's Zoom meeting was about.

He told CBC Indigenous that he noticed they were all muted as officials announced the funding cuts. He said only one person was allowed to speak before the meeting ended.

"I was surprised that they would … make the announcement and not allow for any input or feedback from the people that were part of that Zoom meeting," said Monias.

He called for the government to reassess this decision and provide the necessary resources.

'Naivete ... or cynicism'

In an emailed statement, Stephanie Scott, the executive director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, said the funding cap "is a step in exactly the wrong direction for reconciliation."

"Funding must be determined by need, not by arbitrary formulas. That's the only way to meet Parliament's promise that every Indigenous community would have the means necessary to locate and commemorate the children who never came home," she said.

Scott Hamilton, a professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., who has worked closely with communities in the search for unmarked graves said, "It's either naivete on the part of the feds thinking how it's not going to cost that much … or cynicism to try and drive communities into despair so they give up.

"I'm hoping it's the former because you can work with that."

Hamilton said the work organizations and communities are undertaking requires an unprecedented level of research and it has taken time to initiate that and build capacity both for project management and the actual operations.

"For the feds to cut the legs out from under the communities that have taken on this monumental task is just heartbreaking and frankly, enormously insulting," he said.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said Canada has committed $323.1 million, including the $91 million announced in this year's budget, to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action on missing children and burial information. 

The statement said the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, established in June 2021, has approved 146 proposals for a total of $216.6 million.

'Culture of impunity': special interlocutor

Leah Redcrow, executive director of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society, which represents the survivors of Blue Quills residential school in Alberta, said she met with officials earlier this week. She said she learned of the funding cuts in that meeting and was told it was because they were waiting for the final report from the independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian residential schools.

"An interlocutor is only supposed to be taking part in the conversation. She's not supposed to be determining our outcome …. They're the ones responsible for answering the calls to action. We're the ones helping them," said Redcrow.

She said Acimowin Opaspiw Society signed a multi-year funding agreement last year and existing agreements are not affected.

"If we have to go to $500,000 starting April 1st, I have to lay off all of my staff and the investigation can't continue," she said.

Special interlocutor Kimberly Murray said this is the third time the funding structure for searches has changed and that her interim report released last summer pointed at a lack of sufficient long-term funding. She said this recommendation will be echoed in her final report and that it was "absolutely ridiculous" for the government to say they were waiting on these recommendations when they are clearly not applying them.

"But it's also part of, like, settler amnesty, right, and a culture of impunity … we stop funding communities to do the work, then less truths are going to come out, and, you know, there'll be less calls for justice and accountability, and they won't have to comply with their international legal obligations," she said.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven day a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.