Jagmeet Singh: What happened to Indigenous people in Canada is genocide

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh held a press conference on Monday morning following the discovery of a mass grave on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. last week. Singh, who is also a lawyer, was asked about his use of the word “genocide” to describe the historical abuse of Indigenous people in Canada, as it’s a designation that has legal implications.

“215 Indigenous kids were found in an unmarked mass grave. Anytime you think of unmarked mass graves, you think of a distant country where a genocide has happened. This is not a distant country, this is here in Canada, and the genocide was against Indigenous people. And it is a genocide that is ongoing. 215 little kids, whose parents never knew what happened to them. They are unmarked, unregistered kids found in a mass grave. The country is reeling from this loss.”

“What has happened to Indigenous people in Canada is genocide, no question about it. There were clearly systems in place designed to kill them.“

—Jagmeet Singh

Singh is requesting an emergency debate in Parliament to discuss the issue of justice for Indigenous communities and launching radar searches of the grounds of residential schools across Canada, which is something that Indigenous leaders are requesting.

"This mass grave is a painful reminder of the genocide," says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, urging emergency debate re finding at former B.C. residential school. "In light of this genocide Canada has to make some real tough decisions about our commitment to remedying this injustice." pic.twitter.com/veMo7nVqTK

— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) May 31, 2021

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