The scandal of aboriginal boarding schools in Canada shakes public opinion

As more information emerges about the agonizing history of the boarding schools he sent Aboriginal children to, many shocked Canadians are calling for more steps to shine a light on the truth as a path to reconciliation.

"It's definitely a turning point," says Guillain-Picard, president of the Council of First Nations in Quebec and Labrador.

"People are more responsive now," he added, as they "want to know the truth" about this dark chapter in Canadian history.

In part because of a 2015 report, in recent years the details of this forced assimilation and violence in these institutions have reached a slightly larger audience than non-indigenous Canadians.

But outrage erupted in the past few months after hundreds of unidentified graves were discovered on the campuses of a number of those boarding schools.

Tens of thousands of Aboriginal children of different peoples were forcibly sent to these Catholic schools across the country from the late nineteenth century through the 1990s, and were separated from their families and cultures.

Thousands died in those schools and many were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, according to an investigative committee that concluded that the Canadian government had committed "cultural genocide."

In 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an apology on behalf of the Canadian people regarding these boarding schools.

"It was expected that one day we would discover something like this," said Montreal citizen Marie-Christine Poifin-Fournier, 33, expressing shock at what was found.

But she decided to turn that shock into action.

Rather than presenting her with presents for her birthday earlier this month, Poifan-Fournier asked her friends and family to donate money after more information emerged about "boarding schools, colonial genocide and the disappearance of indigenous women and girls".

"It was a small step," said Montreal's Indigenous Women's Refuge, which benefited from the fundraising.

"Actions are more important than words," said Nakosset, the shelter's director, describing these steps as "reconciliation."

The association received a lot of donations this year on Canada's National Day on July 1, she said.

- 'Everything was taken from them' -

While some Canadians chose to respond to the news by supporting the Aboriginal community through financial donations, others poured out their wrath on the Catholic Church.

Vero, 49, considered that the recent discovery of the tombs made her take the final decision, adding, "It is a sign of commitment and also a message I want to send."

"Their land, their children, their culture, their names and their lives were taken from them," said Ferro, who was born in Granby to a Catholic family.

Everything was taken from them.

The discovery of the unnamed tombs came as a "major shock" to Canadian society, according to Marie-Pierre Bousquet, professor of anthropology at the University of Montreal.

"People realized that (the boarding school legacy) wasn't just black and white pictures of kids in classrooms across the country," she said.

Rather, it has become a reality.”

"This is not the image that Canadians had of their country," Bousquet said.

It is not a country where children are secretly buried.”

"They consider (their country) a multicultural democracy, with an enlightening past and very open spaces, not a country based on genocide," she added.

We finally realized that this is a myth.

It is very harsh information.”

Bousquet believes that more Canadians will want to be "informed" about Canada's Aboriginal past as research into boarding schools continues.

Experts estimate that nearly 150,000 children attended these schools and that more than 4,000 of them died in those institutions.

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