Jean Chretien had “never” heard of abuse in boarding schools

This problem was never mentioned when I was a minister. StartAnswered a question from host Guy A. Lepage about the physical and sexual abuse, abuse and disappearances that took place there decades ago.

These facts have been extensively documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (A new window) In 2015, he returned to the center of the news this year after Hundreds of unidentified bodies discovered Close to the country’s former boarding schools.

I obviously knew there were boarding schools, moreover, the last school was closed when I was prime minister, This is it in 1997The former politician, who was invited to the show to discuss his latest autobiographical book, said: my new stories.

Then Mr Chretien, who was prime minister from 1993 to 2003, seemed to want a comparison with the classic college boarding schools he attended as a teenager. These comments shocked writer Michel Jean, who was also invited to the program right after the former prime minister.

I think Mister Chretien, with all due respect, does not realize what an aboriginal boarding school is, replied Mr. Jean, an Innu. The word boarding school makes people think it’s a school, you teach people to write, when it wasn’t.

The author who was also present at the show to discuss his latest book, theohtiHe provided examples of the abuse his family members suffered there. There is someone in my family who went to Fort George Residential School and was sexually assaulted every day for eight years by a nun.

It’s called a boarding school, but it wasn’t a school.

Advise excuses against

Jean Chretien also recounts in his book that he advised the Queen of England not to apologize to the Maori people of New Zealand for the fate assigned to them by the British colonial administration.

He would tell her: Your Majesty, if you start, I will have to bring you to Canada, and since we have several hundred Aboriginal communities, you will be on your knees for at least two years.

When asked about this incident, Mr. Chretien confirmed that the apology, It’s good that we do, but one thing is important, and that is the future.

We can’t rewrite historyThe 87-year-old statesman followed suit. It is a very difficult problem.

I even adopted an Indian son, to be a role model, he added. It proves my attachment to this problem.

Mr. Chretien then emphasized the progress that had been made, particularly in the field of education, in recent decades.

Experience value

In his book, Chretien argues that while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team aspire to be broadly reformers, their lack of experience in reaching that goal is increasingly evident.

on set Everyone is talking about itHe said based on his personal experience and the value he found in his more experienced colleagues.

When I got to Parliament, Mr. Pearson very quickly took me as his secretary, and then sent me to the Ministry of FinanceHe remembers.

He told me, “Go into the finance department with Mitchell Sharp,” who was a deputy secretary, a businessman. He told me, “There you will learn.” And Mitchell Sharp became my mentor.

He said the latter also advised him on a voluntary basis for ten years when he became prime minister.

Mr. Pearson’s experience, as well as that of Mr. Sharp, made me what I am today.

On the tense relationship between Canada and China (A new window)Mr. Chrétien was pragmatic.

China has become a formidable power. You will eventually join the Americans and outsmart them. We don’t like their diet, but they are right there.

We have to maintain dialogue with them because the economies of the world are interconnected. And then, chicane doesn’t lead anywhere, you have to try to have the best relationships possible, he added.