Providing real redress: changes the Government of Canada must make to its current policies to address the legacy of abuse in residential schoolsFor decades, members of the First Nations1 have were victims of abuse in Canada's residential school system. Indigenous children have had their culture and families ripped away from them in the name of solving Canada's perceived "Indian problem." These children were victims of emotional, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of residential school supervisors and teachers. Since the demise of residential schools in the 1960s, residential school survivors and their communities have faced persistent problems with substance abuse, suicide, and sexual abuse.2 These problems are caused by the abuse survivors faced in boarding schools. The Government of Canada created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to address these issues, but it has proven largely ineffective. Although the Government of Canada has made adequate efforts to secure monetary reparations for residential school survivors, it has failed to provide a means to address the ongoing problems of alcohol and drug abuse, sexual abuse and suicide in residential school survivor communities. 3Residential schools were first established in the 1880s to solve Canada's "Indian problem." Canada's settlers viewed First Nations people as savages, and the purpose of residential schools was to civilize them and integrate them into white Canadian society. The first operators of residential schools saw their forced integration as a benefit to Indigenous peoples. One of the boarding school supervisors wrote to the sisters in charge of the St. Joseph Mission in Williams Lake: "He now remains for ...... middle of paper ...... April 10, 2014. http:/ / www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/02/24/first_nations_youth_call_for_fiveyear_action_plan.html.The provincial advocate for children and youth. Feathers of hope. Compiled by the Provincial Child and Youth Advocate. Toronto: np, 2014. Accessed May 21, 2014. http://digital.provincialadvocate.on.ca/i/259048.Stanton, Kim. “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: settling the past? The International Journal of Indigenous Policy 2, no. 3 (August 30, 2011): 1-20. Accessed May 18, 2014. http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=iipj. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Interim Report. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Government of Canada, 2012. Accessed May 17, 2014. http://www.attendancemarketing.com/~attmk/TRC_jd/Interim_report_English_electronic_copy.pdf.