Survivors' Secretariat denied funding to continue search for missing children, unmarked graves

WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at residential schools.

An organization leading efforts to investigate Canada's oldest and longest-running residential school fear they've been denied federal funding as punishment for criticizing the Liberal government, putting their search for missing children and unmarked burials in jeopardy.

Laura Arndt, lead at the Survivors' Secretariat, a non-profit investigating the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ont., warned in December that her organization was in dire financial straits, verging on total shutdown, while awaiting a funding decision.

That decision, a denial, eventually landed in Arndt's email inbox at 12:16 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2025, she says, noting it's an odd time for the Canadian government to send out an official communiqué, particularly to trauma-bearing survivors.

The email contained a letter that was digitally signed just six hours earlier, yet was dated Dec. 20, 2024: the day after CBC Indigenous reported on the situation. And stranger still, the letter explained, as far Canada is concerned the secretariat isn't financially pinched at all. Rather, it has $4.2 million in "unspent funds."

"The saddest part of it is, I actually read the email at 12:16 in the morning because my phone woke me up," Arndt said.

"And I couldn't sleep because all I kept thinking about was: How am I going to explain this to the survivors when I don't even understand what I'm being told?"

Puzzled, noting her own audits contradict Canada's accounting, she wrote back on Feb. 4. She's still awaiting answers.

Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, the secretariat received about $10.3 million from the $320-million Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund.

Dubbed the Mush Hole for its malnourishing food, the Mohawk Institute was run by the Anglican Church and federal government from 1828 to 1970, taking children mainly from nearby Six Nations of the Grand River. The secretariat has documented 101 deaths there.

A review of relevant financial records and correspondence shows Canada and the secretariat roughly agree on the group's revenues, but not expenses. Canada says the group has spent $6.1 million over three years, while the secretariat's audits record $8.5 million in spending.

Arndt said they had a surplus of $2.5 million to start this fiscal year, which Ottawa previously let them carry forward, not $4.2 million. Since the fiscal year is now almost done, they've used the carryover, leaving them with no unspent cash, she said.

The records suggest Canada may be refusing to recognize some of the secretariat's expenditures as legitimate, or "eligible" under the program's conditions, setting the stage for a possible clawback.

Roberta Hill, a Mohawk Institute survivor, Six Nations member and secretariat board member, feels Canada is implicitly accusing them of misusing money.

"I think it's pretty shocking, actually, because it's basically saying that we're incompetent, and that's not the truth," she said. 

"We've been accountable all along for all the money that's been spent. So I don't know where they've come up with this figure."

'A normal part' of the process

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree wasn't made available for an interview, and his department didn't directly address those concerns.

"It is a normal part of the verification process for officials to ensure that funds have been spent in accordance with the terms and conditions of funding agreements," wrote spokesperson Jacinthe Goulet.

The department will continue to work with recipients "to address any concerns and questions they may have about eligible activities and other conditions under which the program operates," she added in a statement.

Arndt said they secured some money from the Ontario government to keep operating until the end of February, meaning they're now back where they were in December.

The Trudeau government established the support fund in 2022 with a commitment to finding the children, and in December, Arndt accused the government of breaking that promise. She is doubling down on those comments now.

"The question I'm asking in my head is, is this retribution for not doing and playing by their rules?" she said, adding that her other question is whether Canada simply wants to block the work.

In three years, the secretariat has submitted 12 reports and three audits that were never questioned by any official, said Arndt. She feels the timing of the concerns point to "petty politics" around the group speaking out.

"I think Canada's message is: 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you, because we can cut the funding off.'"

The Mohawk Institute is notorious for the abuse children have reported, including allegations of beatings, whippings and solitary confinement in a makeshift jail. Survivors have reported seeing children's faces being rubbed in urine or excrement, and being fed wormy oatmeal and spoiled meat, according to federal records.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission reported a parent successfully sued the principal for imprisoning a young girl on a water-only diet and whipping her with a strap in 1914, and that in 1907 the institute had two prison cells where supervisors locked up runaways for a week upon capture.

Hill said Ottawa made a commitment to stand with survivors, calling the process "a farce" if that doesn't happen.

"All we're asking for is the truth. Is that so hard? Just tell us where the children are."

A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services for survivors and those affected. 

Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.