Jagmeet Singh Pushes Emergency Debate After Tragic Discovery At Former Residential School

Following the discovery of 215 children's bodies buried at a former Kamloops residential school, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for an emergency parliamentary debate.

Singh posted a statement on Monday, May 31, saying that "it is imperative that an opportunity be provided to parliamentarians to discuss this colonial genocide. Important questions deserve to be answered about this and other schools, and immediate concrete measures need to be taken as a way to seek justice and uphold the rule of law."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on May 30 that he had requested flags on all federal buildings to be flown at half-mast "to honour the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloops residential school and all Indigenous children who never made it home, the survivors, and their families."

In the original announcement about the discovery, made by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, it was noted that the Kamloops Indian Residential School was the "largest school in the Indian Affairs residential school system."

"To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths," stated Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir. "Some were as young as three years old. We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families, understanding that Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc is the final resting place of these children."

Singh said he will be proposing the emergency debate at an appropriate time today.