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Trudeau Issues Apology for Residential Schools

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued an apology for the residential school system after 751 unmarked graves were found at a former residential school site in Saskatchewan.

Trudeau said Canadians are "horrified and ashamed" by the policy enforced by the government that forced Indigenous children to attend boarding schools. 

The government has admitted that sexual and physical abuse was widespread in the schools, and thousands of kids died there of diseases and other causes. 

The Prime Minister said when Canada's birthday comes on July 1st, many citizens won't be able to celebrate. 

"Canadians across the country are waking up to something that quite frankly that Indigenous communities have long known. The trauma of the past echoes very much today."

Trudeau also vowed to take action for the injustices experienced. 

"Specifically to the members of the Cowessess community and Treaty Four communities, we are sorry. It was something that we cannot undo in the past, but we can pledge ourselves every day to fix in the present and into the future. That means recognizing the harms, the impacts, the inter-generational trauma, the cycles of challenges that far too many Indigenous peoples face in this country because of actions that the federal government and other partners deliberately and willingly undertook."

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