Canada draws up agreement with Oblate members who worked in residential schools

The Oblates of OMI Lacombe Canada and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) signed a supplemental agreement Tuesday in Winnipeg that is expected to quicken access to personnel files of Oblate members who worked in Canadian residential schools. NCTR executive director Stephanie Scott said the memorandum of agreement will see the centre gain unprecedented access to previously unreleased records held by the Oblates, adding: “[This] agreement is a significant step…. We believe that this collaboration will help tell an even more complete story and by doing so, we will be honouring all the children who were taken to those institutions, including those who never came home.” The agreement will ensure the personnel files of Oblate members who have been dead two or more years will be available for research. Such files were previously sealed for 50 years after an Oblate member’s death.