Walking in the Pacific Spirit Park yesterday my thoughts were of the 215 children whose remains have just been discovered buried on the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. These children, some as young as three, were taken from families across British Columbia who they never saw again and died often far from home and were then never accounted for.

What a tragic, shameful and heartbreaking part of our Canadian history. On Friday, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) said it mourned alongside the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. “There are no words to express the deep mourning that we feel as First Nations people, and as survivors, when we hear an announcement like this,” wrote Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the UBCIC. “Today we honour the lives of those children, and hold prayers that they, and their families, may finally be at peace.”

I send my heartfelt condolences to all the families and ask that you to keep the memory of these beautiful lost children in your thoughts as they will always be in mine.