Dear Editor:
Was there a difference in how John Macdonald or Queen Victoria treated the Indigenous people compared to how the white Home Children they brought to Canada from Britain were treated at the same time?
Between 1869 and 1948, over 100,000 white Home Children were imported to Canada as part of a program that lasted into the 1970s. These children ranged in age from toddler to 14. Britain hoped [falsely] that Canadians would adopt these children.
In 1875 the Dominion of Canada (federal) government paid a $2/head grant for the Home Children; would this not be considered slavery? These children were “owned” and remained in their farm placements until they were 18 years old unless they were required to enlist in one of Canada’s World Wars. Many of the Home Children who enlisted in both World Wars believed they had discovered a way to return to Britain and escape their abusive situations in Canada.
Many of these children were abducted from their families in Britain, brought to Canada and forced to labour on Canadian farms, believing that their parents were dead or didn’t want them. Their agricultural endeavours aided in the establishment of this country. Unfortunately, many children were stigmatized, victimized and assaulted, and died due to their placements. Some children committed suicide or vanished.
In Ontario, the remains of 76 children were discovered in two unmarked communal graves. It is unknown how many other unmarked grave sites with white Home Children exist across Canada’s provinces. Isn’t this, then, genocide?
Why are the exploits of the Home Children not taught in Canadian history? Why haven’t these Children been acknowledged? I haven’t heard anything else about this heinous conduct since. Did the lives of these white Home Children not matter?
It astounds me how many Canadians believe the Home Children are a myth or that they never existed, or that no white would ever enslave another white!
Perhaps it is past time for the Home Children to be remembered and honoured for their contributions and what they contributed to Canada – literally their lives. They are an intricate part of this country’s history, especially those buried in unmarked graves.
My grandfather was a Home Child; he laid in an unmarked grave for nearly 85 years before I located him this spring.
Tasha Heart,
Elora