Statement

May 27, 2025

On the 4^th Anniversary of the Kamloops Residential School Findings, UBCIC Calls for Residential School History to be Acknowledged and Survivors to be Respected

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C. – May 27, 2025) Today UBCIC observes the fourth anniversary of the announcement by Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc of approximately 200 potential unmarked graves at the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. In the years since, First Nations across the country have engaged in rigorous investigations documenting the archival and archaeological histories of Indian Residential Schools, including the thousands of children who died there.

Denialists seeking to dismiss, diminish and downplay Canada’s responsibility for atrocities at Indian Residential Schools has been a predictable reaction to society’s increasing acceptance of this part of Canadian history. However, to have such racist views represented by elected officials in government is unacceptable. UBCIC calls on the public to engage with credible fact-based information sources like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Reports and calls on newly elected MLAs and MPs across the province to uphold government proceedings, policies and legislation based on fact, respect, and in accordance with the crown’s legal obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ Act and United Nations Declaration Act Action Plan. UBCIC also calls on the Province to ensure it is not aligning itself with Residential School denialists.

UBCIC holds in our hearts Le Estcwicwéy̓, the missing, whose lives were lost at Indian Residential Schools and their families who mourn them. We stand firmly with survivors who witnessed and experienced severe abuses in the Church and government run institutions and firmly reject any distortion of these widely documented truths.  

Credible resources to learn more about Residential Schools:

• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports and 94 Calls to Action
• UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
• Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools Final Report
• Oscar-Nominated documentary Sugarcane

With the understanding that today may be particularly triggering to survivors, their families and loved ones, mental health and cultural support resources can be found below:

First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line and On-line
Counselling Service offers mental health counselling and crisis intervention to Indigenous people across Canada.
Toll-Free: 1-855-242-3310
http://www.hopeforwellness.ca

Indian Residential School Survivors Society
Toll-free: 1-800-721-0066

KUU-US Crisis Line

Toll-Free: 1-800-588-8717
(First Nations and Indigenous specific)
310– Mental Health: 310-6789 (no area code)
Suicide Crisis Line: 1-800-784-2433

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UBCIC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

For more information, please visit www.ubcic.bc.ca

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