NDP MPs call for investigation of child abuse at residential schools
MPs are calling for an independent prosecutor with power to lay charges
NDP MPs Mumilaaq Qaqqaq and Charlie Angus are calling on Justice Minister David Lametti to launch an investigation into “crimes against humanity” in Canada following preliminary discoveries of unmarked burial sites at former residential school sites.
The MPs said Lametti must appoint an independent prosecutor with the power to bring to court those involved in the abuse of children at residential schools.
“Enough is enough. Indigenous people need truth and justice,” Qaqqaq told a press conference this morning.
During the press conference, Qaqqaq and Angus displayed photos of two priests who have been accused of sexual and physical abuse at residential schools: Father Johannes Rivoire and the late Father Arthur Lavoie.
Lavoie was named in more than 300 claims of physical and sexual abuse during an OPP investigation into St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in northern Ontario. He died in 1991.
Rivoire, originally from France, is accused of sex-related offences connected to his time in Naujaat and Rankin Inlet in the 1960s.
RCMP issued a warrant for his arrest in 1998, five years after he returned to France. For nearly two decades, people in Nunavut have been pushing for Rivoire’s extradition from that country
“The abuse at his hands has caused generations of trauma,” Qaqqaq said.
Father Johannes Rivoire moved to Nunavut in the 1960s and stayed there until returning to France in 1993. (Submitted by Lieve Halsberghe)
Two years ago, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) said a 2017 assessment of Rivoire’s case found “there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction regarding the charges.”
“Instead of facing justice for his crimes, Rivoire is living a luxurious retirement in a home for priests … and the federal institution is doing nothing about it,” Qaqqaq said.
The MPs want a special prosecutor with the authority to seek advice from the International Criminal Court, to subpoena documents from the federal government and church institutions and to make those documents public.
NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq spoke with reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday. 3:06
Qaqqaq called out Lametti directly.
“Minister Lametti, don’t you dare tell me you can’t do this. You have the authority. You just refuse to use it and that needs to end today,” she said.
Qaqqaq said the investigation shouldn’t stop with residential schools but should extend to other institutions such as federal day schools, which operated separately from residential schools but were run by many of the same groups.
The federal government has pledged $27 million to help Indigenous communities identify burial sites. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said recently that dollar amount will grow.
But the government has not yet committed to an independent investigation into what happened at residential schools.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission did examine and report on the history and legacy of Canada’s residential school system. Angus said that was only a first step.
“(The TRC) did not have a mandate to pursue justice and to go after the perpetrators. Canadians and Indigenous communities are calling for justice,” he said.
