Council Comments on Kamloops Residential School

A sombre reflection at last night's meeting of Swift Current city council.

The discovery of 215 bodies of First Nation's children buried unmarked and unceremoniously at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops B.C. first sparked shock, and then a steadily growing outrage on social media.

The flags at Swift Current city hall meanwhile are flying at half-mast and will do so for 215 hours, while a few members of Swift Current city council took a few moments to speak to the tragedy during last night's council session.

Councillor Leanne Tuntland-Wiebe, who recently attended a meeting of Swift Current's Truth and Reconciliation committee, read a statement from that committee.

"Let us take some time to think about the genocide of so many indigenous and metis children. Let us not forget that previous Canadian government policies to annihilate the culture and language of indigenous children and their families led to this sad and horrific human disaster. Let us remember those lost children and their families and make a personal commitment to let no government in Canada adopt policies that don't treat all people with respect and dignity."

 Council Member Ryan Switzer meanwhile, chose to defer to Gord Downie, the deceased lead singer of the Tragically Hip, who himself spent much of his time in the spotlight advocating for truth and reconciliation, particularly in regard to residential schools.

 Mayor Al Bridal, the last to speak, touched on both of their comments and added that he felt as though it was time for Canadians to self-reflect on how they themselves treat others.

"We need to take a serious look and treat everyone the same. No matter what their skin colour is. No matter what their nationality is. No matter what their sexuality is. It's something that we need to, as leaders in our communities, to make sure that we're always leading that way. We need to push our provincial and federal elected officials to do the exact same."