The Anglican Church of Canada has acknowledged that it played a role
in creating the conditions that led to the suicides of two young girls
in Wapekeka First Nation, a remote Oji-Cree community in Ontario,
earlier this month. In a statement on Friday 20th. January, Archdeacon Michael Thompson, general secretary, said the church “helped create a legacy of brokenness in some First Nations communities” through the actions of one of its former priests, Ralph Rowe, who abused many Indigenous boys in communities across Northwestern Ontario throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
The statement came in response to comments made by Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation during a press conference the day before (19 January) following the deaths by suicide of 12-year-olds Jolynn Winter and Chantel Fox in early January.
Fiddler said the suicides, like a number of previous suicides, were linked to inter-generational trauma caused by Rowe’s predation, which has had a profound impact on the community.
- Read André Forget’s full in-depth article on the Anglican Journal website.