What was the federal apology for Indian residential schools?

On June 11, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a formal apology in the House of Commons for the federal government's role in the Indian residential school system that operated from the 1880s to 1996. The apology acknowledged the system's harm to about 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and the multi-generational trauma inflicted on Indigenous communities. The apology was a key element of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement of May 8, 2006 (the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history, with about 1.9 billion dollars in compensation) and preceded the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2008 to 2015.

The Indian residential school system was established in the 1880s by the federal government under the Indian Act and operated with the Catholic Church (about 60 per cent of schools), the Anglican Church, the United Church, and the Presbyterian Church providing the schools' religious staff. The federal objective was to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian society. About 139 federally recognised residential schools operated across Canada. Children as young as 4 were forcibly removed from their families, forbidden to speak their languages or practise their cultures, and subjected to harsh discipline, physical and sexual abuse, malnutrition, disease, and inadequate education. About 4,000 to 6,000 children (estimates vary widely) died at the schools, though more recent unmarked-graves investigations suggest the death toll may be much higher. The last federally administered school (Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan) closed in 1996.

The apology process built on years of Indigenous advocacy and litigation. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1991 to 1996) had documented the system extensively. Survivor litigation (about 16,000 cases) led to the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which provided Common Experience Payments (10,000 dollars plus 3,000 dollars per additional year of attendance, with an average payment of about 28,000 dollars), an Independent Assessment Process for sexual and severe physical abuse claims, establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and formal apologies from the Government of Canada and the churches.

Harper's apology speech of June 11, 2008 specifically named the residential school system as 'a sad chapter in our history' and acknowledged that 'the policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country'. The apology was witnessed by survivors invited from across Canada, including Phil Fontaine (National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations), Mary Simon (Inuit leader), and Métis representatives. Indigenous leaders Phil Fontaine and Beverley Jacobs delivered responses on the floor of the House of Commons (the only Indigenous responses ever to be permitted on the House floor). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008 to 2015) subsequently produced 94 Calls to Action and a comprehensive final report. Pope Francis added a Vatican apology on April 1, 2022 and a Canadian-soil 'penitential pilgrimage' apology in July 2022.