Independent Special Interlocutor to Continue Work with Indigenous Communities

SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER – A National Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for former Residential School students. Emotional and crisis referral services are available by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

The Hope for Wellness Line is available to all Indigenous peoples and provides immediate, toll-free telephone and on-line support and crisis intervention 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is available in English, French and, upon request, Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut. Trained counselors are available by phone at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat on their website.

Kimberly Murray, Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, confirmed that her Mandate will continue into the Fall of 2024. This will enable her to continue the crucial work of assisting Survivors, Indigenous families, and communities that are searching for missing children and to deliver a Final Report before the end of her Mandate. This Final Report will include comprehensive recommendations that fully capture what the Independent Special Interlocutor has heard as the best way forward to properly respect and protect the unmarked graves and burial sites.

"With more time to complete this important work, I will be able to properly assess what a new legal framework should be to protect the unmarked graves and burial sites and to ensure that the Government of Canada better understands their obligations to First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, "said Independent Special Interlocutor Murray.

Ms. Murray and the OSI have accomplished a great deal since her appointment in June 2022. She has prioritized meetings with Survivors, their families, and communities and has delivered numerous presentations to Indigenous leadership, communities, and organizations. She has also delivered an Interim Report ("Sacred Responsibility: Searching for the Missing Children and Unmarked Burials") to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Survivors, families, communities, and leadership, and hosted six National Gatherings on Unmarked Burials. Summary Reports for these Gatherings, as well as the Interim Report, are available on the OSI's website.

Ms. Murray and her team are working closely and collaboratively with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders, Survivors, families, communities, and experts to identify needed measures and to recommend a new federal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment and protection of unmarked graves and burial sites of children at former Indian Residential Schools and associated sites. A final National Gathering will be held in the Fall of 2024. Details will be shared with Survivors, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis families and communities, and the public as soon as possible.

The Mandate of the Independent Special Interlocutor was created following the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada's engagement with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders across the country, in which the importance of an Indigenous-led response was emphasized.

For further information, please visit http://www.osi-bis.ca.