Canada PM slams church amid call for probe into Indigenous deaths

UN calls on Canada and the Catholic Church to investigate after a mass grave of 215 Indigenous children was discovered at a residential school in British Columbia.

United Nations rights experts have called on Canada and the Catholic Church to carry out thorough investigations after the remains of Indigenous children were found at a former residential school, as the Canadian prime minister blasted the church for ignoring its past crimes. A mass grave of 215 Indigenous children was discovered last month at Kamloops residential school in British Columbia, which operated between 1890 and 1978 under the auspices of the Catholic Church and later the Canadian government. “We urge the authorities to conduct full-fledged investigations into the circumstances and responsibilities surrounding these deaths, including forensic examinations of the remains found, and to proceed to the identification and registration of the missing children,” nine UN human rights experts said in a statement on Friday.