Teach residential school history in classes, says newly elected Ontario regional chief
A familiar face within the Anisinabek Nation and on Manitoulin Island will soon be ascending to one of the highest offices in the province.
Former Anishinabek Nation Grand Chief Glen Hare was elected to the position of Ontario Regional Chief during the 47th Annual All Ontario Chiefs Conference on Thursday.
For Hare, who hails from M'Chigeeng First Nation, it's a big honour.
"I don't take it very lightly, lots of thought has been put into this, I didn't just jump in for the sake of looking for work," he said. "First and foremost any political leader needs his family's support, 100 per cent, and I still had that coming from the Grand Chief of the Anishinabek Nation."
In an interview with CTV News, Hare, who is no stranger to politics, said he's looking forward to the challenge of representing Ontario nationally.
It comes on the heels of the discovery of 215 children buried at the former Kamloops residential school in British Columbia.
Hare said it's time to switch focus to finding other victims
"It time for the truth," he said. "The government is the one that came and got our kids, our babies, at our homes. My God, they're responsible for bringing them back home. One hundred per cent."
"These are horror stories. They were murdered."
He's seen shocking news clips of children being taken away from families in cattle trucks to residential schools.
"You don't treat us like that," Hare said. "I was just appalled to see that."
Canadian students need to learn the full history of how First Nations people have been treated, he said. Many Canadians have been shocked to learn the ugly history of residential schools, and that has to change. Right now, too many people don't believe Indigenous people when they tell their stories.
"Put the truth in education," Hare said. "Put it in the classrooms ... It has to be put into the history, because they need to know. Teach everybody what happened."
When it comes to truth and reconciliation, Hare said he's heard a lot of talk in the last five decades, but very little action. That has to change.
"No more talk, and no more bringing this up only when they have an election," he said.
In terms of his priorities, Hare said he will work with chiefs to set their agenda and find out what is most important to them.
"And I need government leadership at the table," he said. "Let's do this together. I want to work with everybody."
"I know the government leaders, provincial and federal. I want them to meet my leadership, too, and let's meet at the table and talk about these things. Be part of the solution."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.