UBC President Santa J. Ono will deliver a statement of apology for the university's involvement in the system that supported the operation of residential schools, at the official opening of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.
The centre will provide Indian residential school survivors, their families, and their communities access to records gathered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada which document the history and abusive nature of a system that operated in Canada for more than a hundred years. It will also inform visitors about the lasting effects of the Indian residential school system, and help them understand larger patterns in history as a context for thinking about contemporary issues and relationships.
The two-storey, 6,500-square-foot centre was fully funded with $5.5 million in undesignated donations which the university directed to this project. The building is located between Koerner Library and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre on the Vancouver campus.
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