Courtenay – Alberni MP Gord Johns said he will be demanding the federal government assist the Tseshaht First Nation in conducting further research of child deaths at the Alberni Indian Residential School, and fund programs for reconciliation and healing.
On Tuesday, Tseshaht Chief Councillor Ken Watts laid out his communities needs, and Johns said Canada has an obligation to assist.
“Canada has to step up to the plate as he [Watts] identified,” he said. “They provided the resources to build these institutions, they need to provide the resources to not just tear them down and remove them, but also to replace them with healing and opportunities to change the narrative about what this place means.”
Johns said Tseshaht should not be forced to fund research and radar, and wants to see former residential school buildings replaced with a healing centre and multiplex.
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