Canada Wanted to Close All Its Residential Schools in the 1940s. Here’s Why It Couldn’t

Aboriginal students, principal Father Joseph Hugonnard, and staff, including the Grey Nuns, of the residential school are shown in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan in this May 1885 file photo. The Canadian Press/National Archives of Canada/O.B. Buell, PA-118765

Commentary

In 1942 during the darkest days of the Second World War, the House of Commons took the heroically optimistic step of convening a special committee to “study and report upon the general problems of reconstruction and re-establishment which may arise at the termination of the present war.”