Petition seeks permanent funding for residential school support programs

Petition seeks permanent funding for residential school support programs Natasha Bulowski in Ottawa Thursday September 24, 2026 at 5:19pm MT NDP MP Leah Gazan held a press conference with residential school survivors on September 24, 2026 to demand the federal government permanently fund several programs set to sunset. Natasha Bulowski/Cabin Radio Share An NDP MP and residential school survivors are calling on the federal government to permanently fund programs that help communities deal with the fallout of residential schools through research and healing support. “I’m still doing healing, and … it’s not easy to work on the trauma that happened at the school,” Christina Kitchekesik, a 75-year-old survivor of residential school, said at a press conference in Ottawa. “That’s why I’m here and ask the government to keep the funding going,” Kitchekesik said. “There’s a lot of our survivors that haven’t even started their healing, and it’s not easy because we’re so used to keeping all the secrets and all our emotions inside.” Christina Kitchekesik, a 75-year-old survivor of residential school, spoke at a press conference in Ottawa on September 24, 2026. Kitchekesik stood beside NDP MP Leah Gazan, who recently tabled a petition calling on the federal government to permanently fund programs that help communities deal with the fallout of residential schools. Natasha Bulowski/Cabin Radio A parliamentary petition, sponsored by NDP MP Leah Gazan, calls on Canada to implement statutory funding for the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund. The program helps Indigenous nations and communities to locate unmarked burial sites, search for missing children, and conduct archival research.  Between June 2021 and April 2026, just under $9.7 million from the program was awarded to recipients in the NWT such as the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation, Deninu Kųę́ First Nation, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Tłı̨chǫ Government and NWT Métis Nation. Advertisement. Advertisement. The federal government told Cabin Radio it had assigned $104 million in new funding earlier this year to renew the support fund for two more years. The petition sponsored by Gazan goes further, calling for federal funding for survivor healing and cultural supports to be permanently funded rather than supported through programs that expire. The federal government has to respond to petitions in 45 days or, if the House of Commons isn’t sitting, it must respond on the next…