Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin after learning of an internal memo that shows him advocating using money meant for residential school survivors as leverage in the 1998 treaty negotiations. That year, the federal government had set aside $350 million to support community-based healing initiatives for residential school survivors in Inuit, First Nations and Métis communities. "I thought it was really critical that some of that [residential school] reality was reflected in the treaty we were trying to come up with." Withholding residential school supports as a sneaky negotiation tool is morally bankrupt. "I have been and will always be a strong supporter for residential school survivors, their families and their Nations," he wrote.

Source: CBC News July 08, 2021 12:00 UTC