FSIN Responds To Withdrawal Of Truth Commissioners
Monday, February 02, 2009 at 14:33
A vice-chief with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says he’s not surprised to hear the remaining two commissioners at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have announced their intentions to resign on June 1st.
Lyle Whitefish says rumours to that effect had been making the rounds for quite some time.
He believes new commissioners will likely be chosen by the national selection committee that hired the original commissioners.
He hopes some Saskatchewan representation is recruited this time around, given the large number of survivors who reside in the province.
Whitefish says he also hopes the new commissioners extend the five-year mandate of the process to include the four months that were wasted by all the personnel shuffling.
He also thinks the commission should be expanded to include more than three people — perhaps five or seven individuals.
Whitefish says the truth and reconciliation process has to move quickly to make up for time lost.