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

Officials with Indigenous Services Canada 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.

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.