Vancouver Catholic school alumni want apology for link to residential schools

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Former students of a Vancouver Catholic school are calling for it to formally say sorry for its connection to the former Indian Residential School in Kamloops where the unmarked graves of children were discovered. Little Flower Academy was founded by the same order of nuns who provided staff in Kamloops.

In a tribute to the 215 children whose remains were found at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, dozens of Little Flower Academy alumni lit candles, laid down flowers, or brought stuffed teddy bears and toys.

Alumni at Little Flower Academy in Vancouver are holding a ceremony to honour the lives of the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were recently found in Kamloops. The order of Catholic nuns who founded this school also staffed the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. pic.twitter.com/zDqAD1xCJu

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) June 4, 2021

Some shared emotional statements, like Abigail Balisky, who wants the school to issue a formal apology.

“However you pray, if you pray, whoever you pray to, please, please, please keep a tender heart for these children of the Indigenous community,” she said.

“I don’t think any of us here, who are not Indigenous, can even begin to comprehend the sorrow and the pain that the people are going through,” Balisky added.

Related articles:

• Trudeau calls on Catholic Church to take responsibility for residential schools

• Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc shares ways to support First Nation after remains discovered in Kamloops

• Vancouver Catholic school reckoning with founders’ role in residential schools

The all-girls Little Flower Academy was founded by the Sisters of St. Ann in 1927.

In addition to staffing the Kamloops Indian Residential School, the order founded and operated a residential school in Duncan. The nuns staffed many others in the province including St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, Kuper Island Indian Residential School, and Lower Post Indian Residential School.

Principal Diane Little says the school is no longer run by the Sisters of St. Ann. It is operated by the Jane Rowan Society, which took over in 1990.

“The apology, to be authentic and sincere, would have to come from the people that ran the residential schools and I cannot speak on behalf of the Sisters or the Catholic Church,” Principal Diane Little said Friday.

Students and former students are leaving flowers and teddy bears here outside Little Flower Academy. pic.twitter.com/9cuWAF0cTL

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) June 4, 2021

Still, Little insists the school will do more to acknowledge its past. She insists the school will go beyond the B.C. curriculum, in terms of teaching about Indigenous history and communities.

We took time to first consult with those who better understand the suffering related to our Canadian residential school system and we will continue to do so. What we have learned and our plan so far: https://t.co/WkRw8JFWKH

— LittleFlowerAcademy (@LFABC) June 4, 2021

With files from Lisa Steacy