The federal government is committing $321 million in new funding for programs to help Indigenous communities search burial sites at former residential schools and to support survivors and their communities.
Justice Minister David Lametti says he will appoint a translator to work with Indigenous communities and the government to propose changes to federal laws, policies and practices that are related to unmarked graves at residential schools.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett says $83 million will be added to an existing $27-million program to fund searches of burial sites and commemorate the children who died at residential schools.
She also says the government will create a national advisory committee, made up of archeology, forensic, pathology, and mental health experts, to advise Indigenous communities and the government about work to find and identify the children.
Since May of this year, several Indigenous communities across the country have announced that hundreds of unmarked graves have been located at the sites of former residential schools.
