jun 11, 2008 - Formal Apology from PM of Canada

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On June 11, 2008 in Ottawa, then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper is heard acknowledging past mistakes.

"The Government of Canada sincerely apologises and begs forgiveness from the Aboriginal peoples of our country for their deep mistreatment. "Please accept our condolences." Harper says in the House of Commons as he delivers the apology.
Quote from Stephen Harper:
"For more than a century, Indian Residential Schools separated over 150,000 Aboriginal children from their families and communities. In the 1870's, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate Aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these schools. Two primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child". Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country."
These are the reasons why he apologized and why it was right to.

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