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Prime Minister to visit Williams Lake First Nation, weeks after residential school findings

WLFN will discuss the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School investigation with Trudeau
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (CPAC)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be visiting Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) this week.

Trudeau’s visit follows the announcement in January 2022 that 93 reflections were found at the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake during the first phase of the investigation at the site, WLFN stated in a new release Monday, March 28.

“We are thankful that the Prime Minister is making the time to visit Williams Lake First Nation,” said Chief Willie Sellars.

“This trip has been a long time in the making, and we have much to discuss about the St. Joseph’s Mission investigation, the government of Canada’s role in residential school investigations, and Canada’s commitment to the goals of reconciliation.”

READ MORE: ‘93 is our number’: WLFN reveals St. Joseph’s Mission preliminary findings

St. Joseph’s Mission was established in 1867 by Roman Catholic Oblate missionaries in an area just south of the current WLFN community of Sugar Cane.

In 1886, St. Joseph’s became an Indian Residential School and remained one until it was closed in 1981.

A crisis support line at the Indian Residential School Survivors Society can be reached at 1-866-925-4419 and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.



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Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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