St Catharines MP applauds $320M headed to Indigenous communities

St Catharines MP Chris Bittle applauded a recent federal government initiative aimed at supporting Canada’s Indigenous community.

“(On August 10), the Minister of Justice (David T. Lametti, also the Attorney General) announced $320 million in new funding to help Indigenous communities search burial sites at former residential schools and to support survivors and their communities,” said Bittle.

Among the specifics, Bittle noted, was:

• $83 million added to the $27 million currently allocated to searching burial sites
• $20 million for a national memorial that honours the survivors and all the children who were lost.
• $107 million on programs to provide essential mental health, culture and emotional services to support healing from intergenerational trauma.
• $100 million over two years to help Indigenous communities manage residential school buildings, whether those plans include demolition, rehabilitation or the construction of new facilities.
• $10 million in addition to the $13 million allocated in Budget 2021 to support initiatives that commemorate the history and ongoing legacy of residential schools

Lametti’s announcement on Tuesday was held jointly with Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller and Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault.

Lametti said at the announcement, “We will continue to work with Indigenous Survivors, families, communities and leaders, to ensure that there is justice for all the children who never made it home. We need to act now to ensure the human rights of Indigenous Peoples are respected.”