Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) – National Committee

 

Church Occupations have Commenced across Canada because of Refusal of Church Officials to Disclose Buried Remains of Children – Churches Ordered Off Sovereign Lands

 

Toronto: The first of a wave of church occupations commenced yesterday in Toronto because of the refusal of leaders of the United, Catholic and Anglican churches to disclose and return the remains of thousands of children who died in their Indian Residential Schools.

 

Members of Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (Toronto) peacefully occupied Metropolitan United Church in downtown Toronto Sunday morning, where they unfurled banners inside the church sanctuary demanding a return of the children's remains. Similar actions occurred at other downtown Toronto churches.

 

As part of this action, elders of sovereign nations have issued Expulsion Orders to these churches that ban them from their territories. A copy of this Order was posted on the front door of Metropolitan United Church during this protest.

 

"These are legal eviction notices, backed by the authority of traditional indigenous elders and their laws" stated FRD spokesperson Rev. Kevin Annett, acting under the authority of Hereditary Squamish Chief Kiapilano.

 

"As of March 16, 2008, the United, Anglican and Catholic churches on sovereign territory have 72 hours to vacate their belongings, after which their premises will be peacefully occupied by their rightful owners, the indigenous people whose land has been illegally occupied by these churches, and from where thousands of children were killed."

 

Today is the expiry date of a series of Letters of Demand issued to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Queen of England, the Catholic Pope, and the heads of the United, Catholic and Anglican churches in Canada, that required them to publicly disclose the fate and location of all children who died in their Indian residential schools. None of these individuals have replied.

 

Other church occupations, and issuing of church eviction notices, will be launched in Vancouver and Winnipeg over the next week.

 

For more information contact:

Kevin Annett

pager: 1-888-265-1007   

 

Issued by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD)