Residential school survivor criticizes Trudeau for travelling on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
CBC
A residential school survivor says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to travel for a family vacation to Tofino, B.C. on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation shows "his words don't match his actions."
Evelyn Korkmaz, who survived the St. Anne's residential school in Fort Albany, Ont., criticized the prime minister for instead taking part in a Parliament Hill ceremony on the eve of the new federal statutory holiday meant to honour the children who died in residential schools and the survivors and communities affected by the system.
"It's like celebrating Remembrance Day … or reflecting on Remembrance Day on November the 10th rather than November the 11th," she told CBC News.
Korkmaz, who said she was abused during her time at St. Anne's, was in Ottawa Thursday to mark the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
She is one of the St. Anne's survivors embroiled in a legal battle with the federal government over their compensation cases.
"And this just shows us survivors that he doesn't actually want to meet with us. He's just hoping that we will just disappear into the sunset," she said.
Trudeau has faced sharp criticism over his decision to travel Thursday. While his official itinerary said he would be in "private meetings" in Ottawa that day, it was later updated to reflect the fact that he was in Tofino.
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