‘Incredibly harmful’: Trudeau apologizes for residential schools after Sask. discovery

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is apologizing for the “incredibly harmful” government policies after an estimated 751 unmarked graves were found at a former Saskatchewan residential school site.

The discovery came just weeks after 215 unmarked burial sites were found at another former residential school site in Kamloops, sending shockwaves through the country and prompting renewed calls for action.

Speaking Friday, Trudeau promised to take that action.

“Specifically to the members of the Cowessess community and Treaty Four communities, we are sorry. It was something that we cannot undo in the past, but we can pledge ourselves every day to fix in the present and into the future,” he said.

“That means recognizing the harms, the impacts, the inter-generational trauma, the cycles of challenges that far too many Indigenous peoples face in this country because of actions that the federal government and other partners deliberately and willingly undertook.”

Trudeau added that Canadians are “horrified and ashamed” of how Canada behaved.

More to come