Kimberly Murray and the TRC: Accountability in Question

Is Kimberly Murray responsible for the false claim that there are thousands of missing Indian residential school children?

By her own admission, she is.

On 31 August 2022 in support of her request for intervenor status in the Mohawk Mothers’ lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court, Kimberly Murray swore an affidavit in which she took full credit for all aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s investigation into missing children.  In her affidavit (copy attached), Murray affirmed as follows [bolding added]:

     1. I the undersigned, Kimberly R. Murray, domiciled and residing at the city of Toronto, province of Ontario, do solemnly affirm that:

a) I am proposing to intervene for conservatory purposes, as proposed in the

Declaration of Voluntary Intervention;

b) All the facts set out therein are true; and

c) I respectfully submit that I have knowledge experience and expertise related to the

issues before this Honourable Court and that I have a direct interest therein.

Introduction

2. To assist this Honourable Court, I propose to provide background information on my

professional history and qualifications.

3. I am a Mohawk and a member of Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation. I earned my law degree

in 1993 and am presently completing a Master of Laws in Constitutional Law, both at

Osgoode Hall Law School. In my legal practice over the past three decades, I have

developed expertise in Indigenous legal principles and systems, Aboriginal law, and the

challenges faced by Indigenous people and communities when they interact with the

Canadian judicial system. Of particular relevance to this proceeding, I have developed

significant expertise with respect to:

• The circumstances leading to the deaths of children who were required to attend

Indian Residential Schools;

• Where the missing children’s remainsare likely to be located; and
• Understanding the practical and legal considerations and frameworks in the

context of searching, investigating, protecting, commemorating and, where

desired, repatriating the missing children.

4. Early in my career, I worked from 1995 to 2010 as a staff lawyer and then Executive

Director at Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto. I then served in executive leadership

roles with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (“TRC”), the Indigenous

Justice Division (“IJD”) at Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General (“MAG”), and as the

Executive Lead of the Survivors’ Secretariat at Six Nations of the Grand River. I am

currently the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked

Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools (“Special

Interlocutor”) appointed by federal Order-in-Council.

5. In these roles, I have gained a unique perspective and experiences that can assist this

Honourable Court in these proceedings. Further, this is a perspective that is currently not

being provided to the Court. As part of my national mandate, I am required to review,

analyze, and provide comment on the procedures being applied to the identification,

protection, and in some cases repatriation of the remains of Indigenous children that

were taken to Indian Residential Schools. This means that my rights are directly

engaged by the proceedings therein.

Role with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

6. While at the TRC, I served as the Executive Director. In this role, I reported to the three

(3) Commissioners and was responsible for overseeing the implementation of Schedule

“N” of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (the “Settlement

Agreement”). This included overseeing the entirety of the document collection process

related to unmarked burials and missing children who died while being forced to attend

Indian Residential Schools.More than five (5) million documents were collected from

both the federal government and various church/religious institutions that operated

Indian Residential Schools. These documents detailed the experiences of First Nations,

Inuit, and Métis children that were forced to attend these institutions across Canada,

many of whom were taken and never returned home.

7. 7. Part of my role as the Executive Director was ensuring that all the records received were

properly tagged and categorized. I organized the review of the records by the

appropriate individuals, and directed the academic research done by writers of the final

reports. It is through this review and research that I oversaw the writing and editing of

the TRC’s Final Report which is split into six (6) volumes. Volume 4 specifically

describes the missing children and unmarked burials, as well as the challenges faced in

the collection of records and gaps in information. The Executive Summary of Volume 4

is attached to this affidavit as Exhibit I-1.

8. As Executive Director, I supervised the compilation of a master list of Indigenous

children who had died during their mandatory attendance at Indian Residential Schools

across the country. Many of the children whose deaths were recorded were taken from

Indian Residential Schools to hospitals.

9. In addition to overseeing the work to identify the names of children that had died while

being forced to attend Indian Residential Schools, I retained the services of an

archaeologist to determine possible locations of unmarked burials . . . .

12. As a result of my experience overseeing and coordinating the work related to Volume 4

of the TRC Report, I have first-hand knowledge of the steps required to identify

unmarked burials and the possible identities of missing children. . . .

13. Through my experience with the TRC, I not only navigated challenges relating to record

collection and informational gaps, but I also liaised between First Nations, Inuit and

Métis communities and public institutions. I worked to resolve a wide variety of

challenges related to these gaps. As such, I learned where to look for relevant

information relating to the location of unmarked burials and the identities of the missing

children . . . .

39. I note that I have arrived at this determination based on my experience as outlined

above. Especially, my experience with the TRC and the Mohawk Institute Survivors’

Secretariat, where I was involved in the efforts to recover unmarked burials and identify

the missing Indigenous children who attended Indian Residential Schools. This

experience has given me insight into indicators of potential burial sites. . . .

In short, Kimberly Murray made it abundantly clear in her affidavit that she single-handedly focussed the TRC on a search for missing children, a search with obvious criminal implications expressly prohibited by the TRC’s Schedule N mandate which stated that:

the Commission shall not make any reference in any of its activities or in its report or

recommendations to the possible civil or criminal liability of any person or organization, unless such findings or information about the individual or institution has already been established through legal proceedings.

Kimberly Murray affirmed in her affidavit that she oversaw the collection and organization of 5 million records received from the federal government and the churches, that she oversaw the writing and editing of the TRC report, and that she compiled a list of thousands of allegedly missing Indian residential school children.  That list of allegedly ‘missing’ children is now on the University of Manitoba’s National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation website, where the TRC documents were transferred pursuant to a 2013 trust agreement between the TRC and the University.

Kimberly Murray’s list has caused Canadians and people around the world to believe the false claim that there are thousands of missing Indian residential school children.

However, the fact is that after 14 years of searching 5 million records for phantom ‘missing’ children, Kimberly Murray has not been able to provide the federal government, the churches, the media, or her fellow Canadians with the name of a single Indian residential school child who went missing and whose parents did not know what had happened to their child because they had not been informed of the child’s death.

Instead of admitting that she has egregiously misled her fellow Canadians and people the world over, Kimberly Murray doubled down in her recent final report as Special Interlocutor.

In her final report to the Minister of Justice, Arif Virani, delivered at a National Gathering in Gatineau, Quebec, on 29 October 2024, Kimberly Murray falsely claimed that children are not only ‘missing,’ but that they were deliberately ‘disappeared,’ leading Murray to recommend prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the ground that this constitutes an ongoing crime against humanity.  Murray did not name the individuals she wants to see prosecuted by the ICC.  However since only living persons can be prosecuted under the Rome Statute, it is clear that the current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the current Minister of Justice, Arif Virani, would be targets for prosecution, as would any living past or current Senator, Member of Parliament, or Bishop or other official in the Catholic Church, including Pope Francis.

Moreover in order to prevent facts from coming out which would impede such prosecutions in the International Criminal Court, Kimberly Murray has supported Winnipeg MP Leah Gazan’s private member’s bill, Bill C-413, which would criminalize the dissemination of such facts as an offence punishable by two years’ imprisonment.

In summary, Kimberly Murray swore in her affidavit to the Quebec Superior Court that the entire TRC investigation into ‘missing’ children was under her control and direction, that the writing and editing of the TRC report was under her direction and control, and that she compiled, from 5 million records turned over to the TRC, the list of allegedly ‘missing’ children which is on the University of Manitoba’s NCTR website.  Moreover, contrary to the TRC’s Schedule N mandate, Kimberly Murray not only investigated what she personally and erroneously perceived to be criminal actions in connection with allegedly ‘missing’ children, but she now seeks, as Special Interlocutor, to prosecute members of the federal government and the churches for these non-existent ‘missing’ and ‘disappeared’ children at the International Criminal Court.

Is it not time Canadians insisted that Kimberly Murray formally acknowledge that she has not, in 14 years, been able to identify a single verifiably ‘missing’ or ‘disappeared’ Indian residential school child and that she has grievously misled the Canadian public and the world on that point?

Nina Green is an independent researcher who lives in British Columbia.