A lingering reminder of a dark chapter in Canadian history will be demolished on Wednesday.
St. Michael’s Indian Residential School has loomed over the Vancouver Island community of Alert Bay since 1930. It was operated by the Anglican Church until 1975.
It’s going to be torn down and residential school survivors, national leaders and representatives of the Anglican Church will be there to mark the occasion.
Doug White, Director of VIU’s Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation, say it’s an important step in the reconciliation process.
White says demolishing the building will help the community heal and move forward.
White says the reconciliation process started in 2008, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an official apology to residential school survivors, but there’s more work still to be done. Around 160,000 aboriginal children were sent to residential schools in Canada.
