Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being petitioned to apologise to British little one migrants who suffered “shame and isolation”.
It is the newest transfer by campaigners demanding an official apology for the therapy endured by children shipped to Canada within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The petition, initiated by the group Home Children Canada, states little one migrants have been subjected to abuse and stigmatisation, and that many died “ashamed of their history and deprived of their family”.
About 115,000 children, so-called British Home Children, have been shipped to Canada from the UK between 1869 and 1948.
Typically, they have been used as low-cost labour and put to work on farms or as home servants and lots of have advised tales of overwork and mistreatment.
They have been transferred from orphan houses within the UK however campaigners for the Home Children say that many have been solely momentary residents of the orphanages and had households who have been unaware they made the journey to Canada.
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The forgotten legacy of British kids despatched to Canada
Now, these campaigners have submitted a petition calling on Justin Trudeau to comply with the instance of the UK and Australia in issuing a proper apology, one thing the Canadian authorities has resisted.
Presented to Canada’s House of Commons, the petition states: “Home children/child migrants were, as a result of the system, thrust into difficult and inappropriate personal living circumstances exacerbated by a belief that they were unwanted by parents and, as a result, denied access to siblings and/or other relatives.”
“We… call upon the prime minister to sincerely apologise to Home Children/child migrants who suffered in shame and isolation, to those who died while being ashamed of their history and deprived of their family, to elderly survivors burdened by their past, and to descendants grappling with the inter-generational impacts of a system that mistreated and separated their families.”
One of the final surviving British Home Children, George Beardshaw, helps the marketing campaign for an apology.
In an interview with Sky News in September 2023, George, aged 100, stated: “People thought that Britain was sending over some of the scum from off the streets of London, they all thought we were thieves.
“Some bought pitchforks by way of them. Some slept within the barn with the cattle.”
The UK and Australian governments have issued official apologies for their parts in child migrant schemes.
In 2017, Canada’s House of Commons passed a motion of apology, but there has been none from the government itself.
In September 2023, Sky News asked Mr Trudeau if his government owed an apology to British Home Children. He didn’t address the question, saying only: “Good to see you.”
In response to the newest petition, the Canadian authorities advised Sky News: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive so that we can all learn from past mistakes.
“As adopted by the House of Commons in February 2018, the federal government of Canada helps the designation of 28 September as British Home Child Day as a way to increase consciousness and make sure the recognition of the various contributions British Home Children have made to Canada.
“The government has supported a number of outreach, commemorative and educational initiatives to recognise the experience of the Home Children.
“These embrace the designation of the immigration expertise of former Home Children as a nationwide historic occasion; and the institution of a commemorative plaque on the web site of a former receiving residence in Stratford, Ontario.”
Source: information.sky.com”