The federal government will pay an international organization $2 million to provide indigenous communities with advice and options around identifying possible human remains buried near former residential school sites.
The organization also helps governments identify the remains of people who were killed in conflicts and disasters or who have disappeared. The ICMP assisted the Canadian government with such a task after the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Quebec.
“Indigenous communities across Canada are leading the difficult and important work of uncovering the truth at the sites of former residential schools, and our government will continue to support them in that process, whether they choose to use the services of the (ICMP) or not,” Miller said in the statement.
The Crown-Indigenous Relations office also said the ICMP will begin a “cross-country outreach campaign” for indigenous communities that are interested in exploring options to look for possible remains of children at the sites of former residential schools.
The federal office added that the ICMP’s work will be independent of the government and also that “local Indigenous facilitators will lead every step of the process.”
The ICMP will conduct DNA analysis and “other forensic approaches for consideration” before writing a final report for the federal government.
