Conservative senator's comments on residential schools show 'lack of knowledge'

A prominent Indigenous leader in Sudbury, Ont. says recent comments by a Conservative senator show a misunderstanding of Canada's residential school system.

Senator LynnBeyakdefended the residential school system during a speech earlier this month, saying that the "good deeds" accomplished by "well-intentioned" religious teachers have been overshadowed by negative reports documentedby the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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RickOuellet, director of theWabnodeCentre for Aboriginal Services at Cambrian College in Sudbury, said commenting on the positive experiences of residential schools without fully understanding their historyis "problematic."

"I think [Beyak] really struggles to understand the depths by which the Canadian government intended to erase Indigenous culture," Ouelletsaid.

"For someone in her position ... to speak in the way she has, and get national coverage, is just disappointing," he said.

Beyak: 'A somewhat different side of the residential school story'

8 years ago

Duration 0:15

Beyak: 'A somewhat different side of the residential school story'

You can't pick and choose positive stories about residential schools, Ouellet says

Even though Beyak quoted the positive experiences of prominent Indigenous author TomsonHighway, Ouellet said picking one point of view on residential schools doesn't negate the bigger picture.

"You can pick and choose and say 'this guy was in the right place,'" he said.

"That may be true, but you don'tunderstand the larger project. Bringing in Tomson Highway, who went to school at a later time, obfuscates those early years and why those schools came to be."

Ouelletsaid that, in Beyak's speech, shealso connected Indigenous "success" with practising the Christian faith,which is a throwback to the perspective many Canadian leaders had a century ago.

"A lot of that kind of perspective was said in Parliament at the time," he said."She's a hundred years out of date."

Ouellet suggested the senator takea crash course in residential school history.

"She needs to read the Truth and Reconciliation Report. At least the summary."

Listen to Rick Ouellet's interview onCBC'snorthern Ontario afternoon show Up Northhere.