General News and Announcements

Please see an updated version of this statement in the Indian Residential Schools section.

May 2007, revised January 2008

For over a decade, Kevin Annett has made allegations about the United Church and its role in the Indian Residential School system. In 2007, Mr. Annett’s promotion of his film Unrepentant: Kevin Annett and the Canadian Genocide drew public attention to these allegations. More recently, misinformation carried on Mr. Annett’s website about the United Church archives and allegations concerning the Very Rev. Bill Phipps necessitate a direct response by the church.

On his website, Mr. Annett claims that in December 2007, The United Church of Canada closed its archives to the public in order "to conceal their guilt" about the deaths of children at the schools and that the Rev. Phipps "is one of the officials responsible for hiding these records". The truth is that the archives of the United Church have been open for many years. As of late December 2007, the archives are in the process of moving from one location to another, and most holdings will be closed to the public for several months. Throughout the transition, however, special provisions have been made to keep the archives related to Indian Residential Schools open and accessible. This has been clearly stated in every public announcement about the move that the church has made, including our recent press release of October 25, 2007. Bill Phipps is not involved with decisions regarding the archives.

At the present time, the United Church is actively participating with the federal government, other churches, the Assembly of First Nations, and Library and Archives Canada on the Missing Children Working Group, which is coordinating research in government and church archives specifically on the subject of the deaths and burials of students at the schools.

The United Church of Canada has promoted a national truth and reconciliation process for the past four years. The Rev. Phipps has been an active supporter of this position. With the launch of the five-year Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, we trust that former students can put their stories on the national historical record, the churches and federal government can be publicly accountable, and both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians can together work their way through this tragic history into a new, respectful, and just future.

On his website and in an open letter of December 29, 2007, to the co-chairs of the selection panel for the Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners, Mr. Annett objects to the presence of former Moderator Bill Phipps on this panel because Phipps is a "former fiduciary officer of one of the churches responsible for the death and disappearance of residential school children…" and further claims that in 1998, the Rev. Phipps was declared "guilty in absentia" by a "United Nations-affiliated" tribunal into Canadian residential schools.

The truth is that all the stakeholder groups who signed the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement were represented on the selection panel that shortlisted nominees for the three commissioners to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The United Church could hardly have found a more appropriate representative than the Rev. Phipps, who has been active in Aboriginal justice issues throughout his ministry and who, as Moderator in 1998, initiated and offered the formal United Church apology to former students of residential schools and their families.

Further, the tribunal personally organized by Mr. Annett in 1998 was not a United Nations initiative nor was it "affiliated" with the United Nations. The International Human Rights Association of American Minorities (IHRAAM) was present solely as an observer group. (See a 1998 press release issued by SISIS: Settlers in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty.)

Former students have told the church that the distortion and misrepresentation of facts by Mr. Annett does not serve the interests of the survivors of the residential school system nor their families. In fact, it undermines the efforts made by all parties to face the ugly realities of the residential school system and to work toward understanding, healing, and reconciliation.

Mr. Annett is or has been active under the identities of Friends of the Disappeared, the Tribunal into Canadian Residential Schools, and the Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada, as well as the name Eagle Strong Voice.

The following information may assist readers to assess the credibility of the claims in Mr. Annett’s film.

1.  In 1986, The United Church of Canada offered its first apology to First Nations peoples. The church extended a second apology specifically to former students in 1998, acknowledging its involvement in the federal system of Indian Residential Schools. Since that time, the United Church has actively sought paths of justice, healing, and reconciliation. (Approximately 10 percent of residential schools were affiliated with the United Church.) The church acknowledges its part in the colonial enterprise which resulted in a society that has been unjust, abusive, and racist. We consider that the treatment of Aboriginal peoples, including the imposition of the residential school system, constitutes a shameful chapter in Canada’s national history. The United Church deeply respects the courage of former students who are making known painful stories of suffering and abuse experienced at the schools, and in no way seeks to suppress these stories or to evade its responsibility. The United Church is committed to facing the ugly realities of the residential school system and to actively living out its apologies. (For more information on the church’s response, see Indian Residential Schools.)
2. The United Church recognizes the tragic reality that, over the course of the history of residential schools, Native children died as a result of illness, disease, or accident, a fact undoubtedly exacerbated by the institutional setting and inadequate funding. The United Church feels a deep moral obligation to assist family members of former students who seek archival information about their loved ones. Our archives are open. Information is made available subject only to privacy policy and legislation. Our archival records are incomplete, however, because most student records were routinely submitted to the federal government, while others were lost when some residential school buildings were destroyed by fire.
3. In Mr. Annett’s film, stories are told of murders at the schools, including at the Alberni Residential School in British Columbia, which was affiliated with the United Church. Mr. Annett also alleges that the United Church has been involved in secret burials, medical experimentation, and pedophile rings, and has conspired with the government and others to "cover up" these activities. While the United Church has no knowledge of such criminal behaviour, our response remains consistent in urging Mr. Annett and anyone else to present any evidence they may have to the police.
4. Mr. Annett claims that he was "fired without cause or due process." This is untrue. In January 1995, Mr. Annett tendered his resignation from St. Andrew’s United Church in Port Alberni, B.C., in writing to the governing body, Comox-Nanaimo Presbytery. Subsequently, Mr. Annett’s delisting as a United Church minister was the result of two duly authorized Formal Hearings. All parties in these hearings had access to legal advice and the hearings were conducted according to the rules of evidence of the Province of British Columbia. After lengthy testimony, both panels found that all three criteria for removal from ordained ministry had been met. The report of the Formal Hearing is found on the British Columbia Conference website.
5. One of the individuals who speaks in support of Mr. Annett in the film is a longtime member of Amnesty International in British Columbia. In 1996, when Roger Clark, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, was asked about this, he wrote to disavow any involvement of that human rights organization in the "case" of Mr. Annett.
6. The response of the United Church to the legacy of the residential school system is shaped and coordinated by the Residential Schools Steering Committee, which includes Aboriginal members from across the country, some of whom are residential school survivors. The United Church is also being guided by ongoing consultation with Aboriginal political, healing, and survivor organizations.