Backgrounder produced following initial invitation to discuss records not released to National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

Background information

Between the late 1800s and the 1990s, the federal government and several Christian churches operated the Indian Residential School system.

• More than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children attended; many were forced to leave their families and were mistreated, malnourished and abused.

In 2006, in response to litigation by First Nations and Inuit Survivors of residential schools, the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) was reached between Survivors of residential schools, representatives of the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit, church entities and the Government of Canada.

• Part of the IRSSA included the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).
• TRC found that one-third of student deaths were not recorded by government or school administrations, that cause of death was not recorded for half of the students who died and that residential school children died at a higher rate than non-Indigenous children.

In 2015, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) was created through an agreement between TRC and University of Manitoba

• The NCTR holds Survivor’s statements, documents, and other materials collected through TRC.

In 2015,TRC presented 94 Calls to Action, including five specifically related to missing children, unmarked graves and burial grounds. They relate to:

• access to records on the deaths of children from coroner’s offices;
• funding from the Government of Canada for the National Residential School Student Death Register;
• the establishment of a registry of residential school cemeteries; and
• the identification and protection of cemeteries.

In June 2022, Kimberly Murray was appointed as the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools for a two-year term by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. 

• Her Office has a mandate to identify needed measures and make recommendations for a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites of children associated with former residential schools.

The Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples’ Work

On July 19, 2023, the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples has released an interim report entitled ‘Honouring the Children Who Never Came Home: Truth, Education and Reconciliation’, on the work of the NCTR and the Special Interlocutor.

The interim report:

• provides an overview of a March 21, 2023 committee meeting that featured testimony from Independent Special Interlocutor Kimberly Murray, NCTR executive director Stephanie Scott, and Indian Residential School Survivor and Elder Barbara Cameron.
• includes a list of governments and organizations across Canada that have committed to transfer residential school records to the NCTR. However, it remains unclear when the records will be transferred.
• makes recommendations focused on supporting residential school Survivors, families and communities. The first two recommendations focussed on records withheld by federal institutions:

1. That Library and Archives Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada expedite the transfer of all records related to residential schools to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and provide the committee with a progress report by December 2023 and that the Government of Canada take all necessary action to ensure that provincial and territorial governments and all organizations and entities that have withheld records from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation promptly release them.
2. That the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples will hold a hearing with entities and organizations that have withheld records from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in the Fall of 2023.

Access to records

Indigenous peoples need to find and examine records to piece together the location of unmarked burial grounds or cemeteries where their children may be buried. Records could include death certificates or records related to illness and/or transfers to other institutions.

• Outstanding records are held by different governments’ coroners and vital statistics agencies and churches. The federal government also has records that could provide important sources of information for families looking for missing children. These records consist of coroner’s reports and death certificates from several provinces and territories, including from the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, along with records held by Catholic church entities.
• The NCTR and the Government of Canada have established a National Residential School Document Advisory Committee to identify and share all records with the NCTR. Sources of information to locate missing children and unmarked graves include information related to the disposition of lands after a residential school was closed and records related to the IRSSA.

Outstanding Records

The following table summarizes a list of outstanding records produced by the NCTR. As the research of the Centre progresses, more organizations and records may be identified.

Hearings following the tabling of the Interim Report

The Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples hold hearings in the fall of 2023 with entities and organizations that have not released the records.

CIRNAC (December 6, 2023)

Witnesses: Valerie Gideon, Deputy Minister and Mary-Luisa Kapelus, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Strategic Direction

• CIRNAC is less involved in direct service delivery initiatives and programs
• CIRNAC didn’t exist when the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement was concluded

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) (November 29, 2023)

Witnesses: Lori Doran, Director General, Individual Affairs and John Gordon, Indian Registrar, Individual Affairs

• The Indian Register, maintained at ISC, is the official record of persons registered under section 6 of the Indian Act. It was a paper-based system between 1951-1985.
• It contains personal information, only to be disclosed with the written consent of the individual concerned. Does not contain or include information on residential school attendance or cause of death.
• ISC suggests throughout testimony that even without limitations of the Privacy Act, the Indian Register would be of little use to researchers as it only includes ancestral information and personal data of registered Indians of Canada.
• The Indian Register has been used as secondary source in combination with other records to identify individuals and support identification of missing children.
• ISC is part of the Residential School Documents Advisory Committee. Group is still in early stages, and the Indian Register could collaborate with them.
• ISC claims Shingwauk group ATI request was for access to entire Indian Register and that PA limited their ability to release.
• Discussions of information management, privacy, and access as it related to the Indian Register demonstrates siloing within organization. DG of Individual Affairs cannot speak to PA/ATIA implications.
• Some genealogical records are with ISC, some with LAC. Genealogical and archival research people know where to access that information.
• Questions around how long information can be held after death of individual frequently raised.
• Condition of historical records a factor. ISC is working to digitize records for preservation.

LAC (September 19, 2023)

Witnesses: Edward G. Sadowski, Independent researcher, and Ryan Shackleton, CEO of Know History, historical and genealogical research group

• Sadowski: Colonial structures prevent access to information; indigenous intellectual property rights weren’t given up in treaty.
• Sadowski: OIC refuses to release final reports, including damning reports against DoJ for refusing to release records.
• Shackleton: Medical, community, municipal, and church records need to be handed over. Some cases DND also needs to release records – cases where shooting ranges were next to schools, accusations of children being killed at the shooting range. Fear of litigation around invasion of privacy may also be a cause of unwillingness to release records.
• Sadowski: PA allows minister to release records to Indigenous groups. Legislation works as is. Few will exercise authority to release records.

Witness: Jasmine Bouchard, ADM, User Experience and Engagement Sector, LAC

• LAC on track to provide progress report to the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples for December 2023
• LAC identified and transferred 40,000 pages to the NCTR from the school files series, 32 audiovisual government items
• LAC in the process of identifying and digitizing up to six million pages of government records relating to day schools.
• Main issue at LAC is the issue of volume.

Witness: Garima Dwivedi, ADM, Resolution and Partnerships, CIRNAC

• CIRNAC has identified 13 million documents that fall into NCTR mandate, 23 million across government departments and agencies.
• 14 departments hold records related to residential schools