'I am sorry': Andrew Furey apologizes to Inuit in northern Labrador for harms of residential schools
Newfoundland and Labrador鈥檚 provincial government failed to protect Indigenous children from the harms of residential schools, Premier Andrew Furey said in official apologies this week to survivors in Labrador.
The premier is travelling throughout Inuit communities along Labrador鈥檚 north coast this week, offering apologies to residential school survivors and their families during each of his six stops.
鈥淭he Government of Newfoundland and Labrador allowed this to happen and did not step in to protect the children who needed to be protected,鈥 Furey wrote in an official apology statement that was also translated into Inuktitut.
鈥淲e turned a blind eye and neglected our responsibility and duty as a Government.鈥
Toby Andersen, a residential school survivor, listened to the apology in Makkovik on Thursday.
鈥淭his is the first step, the first small step towards reconciliation,鈥 he said.
Andersen said he wanted the apology to be followed up by concrete actions by Newfoundland and Labrador鈥檚 provincial government.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot that needs to be done, there are so many outstanding issues,鈥 he said. 鈥淥ur standard of life is not up to par with the rest of the province.鈥
He said he鈥檚 asked the premier for more medical resources, noting that his community, Makkovik, has only seen three visits by a doctor in four years.
鈥淥ur people don鈥檛 know what a family doctor is.鈥
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey hugs Rigolet Mayor Charlotte Wolfrey during an official apology in Rigolet, N.L., on Wednesday.
School-aged children were separated from their families and communities, Furey acknowledged in his statement, and sent to so-called boarding schools where their connections to their culture, language and families were degraded.
Five schools were established by the Morovian Mission and the International Grenfell Association in the communities of Nain, Makkovik, North West River, Cartwright and St. Anthony.
Survivors of those residential schools shared stories of sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect.
鈥淚 am sorry,鈥 Furey told a group assembled in the Inuit community of Rigolet on Wednesday.
鈥淲e have to truly understand the history of residential schools if we ever hope to advance reconciliation with Labrador Inuit.鈥
This week鈥檚 apologies to Inuit have been years in the making.
In 2017, on the eve of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 apology to survivors in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, then-Premier Dwight Ball promised an apology of his own.
But that apology wasn鈥檛 delivered before he left office in 2020. Ball鈥檚 office said in a statement that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans.
Indigenous families in Newfoundland and Labrador were also made to wait for an apology from the federal government. Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper expressly excluded Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from his apology in 2008, contending the five schools established in the region weren鈥檛 run by the federal government.
After a class-action lawsuit was settled in 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau changed course.
In Rigolet on Wednesday, Mayor Charlotte Wolfrey accepted Andrew Furey鈥檚 apology.
鈥淚t is important that residential school survivors continue to prioritize their healing and wellness,鈥 she said.
Premier Andrew Furey, alongside Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe, meets with residential school survivors in Postville, N.L.
Wolfrey is a survivor of the Yale School that was established in North West River in Labrador.
When she testified in front of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, she said that she ran away from the dorms of the school and hitchhiked some 30 kilometres to Happy Valley-Goose Bay to be reunited with her family.
鈥淲e accept this apology on behalf of those who forgive and solemnly pledge to ensure that these tragic events will never be forgotten.鈥
Prior to his tour of northern Labrador communities, Furey also offered apologies to Nunatukavut members in communities in southern Labrador. He will speak in Nain and Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Friday.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Conservatives call on Elon Musk to step in after Liberals provide loan to Ottawa-based satellite operator
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Myths busted and lessons learned: John Vennavally-Rao on his surgery to reverse his ostomy
Twenty-seven year 麻豆影视 reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I鈥檓 grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.
A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.
Heavy metal exposure could increase cardiovascular disease risk, study finds
A new study is adding to emerging research showing that exposure to metals such as cadmium, uranium and copper may also be associated with the leading cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular disease.
Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
Hezbollah targets base near Haifa after Israeli strike in Beirut killed 37, including top commander
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced that it fired a barrage of missiles at a military base deep inside Israel early Sunday following an Israeli airstrike more than a day earlier that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group鈥檚 senior leaders as well as women and children.
A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.