Final report coming today on unmarked graves, missing children in residential schools

By Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press on October 29, 2024.

OTTAWA – A final report is set to be released today by Canada’s special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves associated with residential schools.

Kimberly Murray, who has been serving in the role for two years, will speak with Justice Minister Arif Virani at a gathering in Gatineau, Que.

More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996.

An estimated 6,000 children died in the schools, though experts say the actual number could be much higher.

In recent years, communities have been searching the grounds of former residential schools in hopes of bringing their missing children home.

In an interim report last year, Murray documented attacks from denialists on communities exploring possible discoveries of unmarked graves, and her final report is expected to deliver recommendations on how communities can be supported in their work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2024.

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