The Current for June 2, 2021
Today on The Current:
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission identified the names of more than 3,000 children who died in Canada's residential schools, but its former chair, Murray Sinclair, says the number could be as high as 25,000. Sinclair discusses the work of telling the stories of what happened to Indigenous people in this country, and what needs to be done now to help the survivors.
Records that could help to identify the children who died in residential schools are sitting in church archives, and advocates say they are being withheld. We hear about the push for the Catholic Church to be held accountable — and the work to piece together the truth from survivor memories and official records — with Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Aki-Kwe, director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre and a law professor at the University of British Columbia.
Tennis player Naomi Osaka walked away from the French Open this week, citing her mental health and the pressure of speaking to the press. She said her decision to withdraw was for the sake of "the tournament, the other players and my well-being." Julie DiCaro, senior editor at the sports blog Deadspin, talks about how the tournament and the media treated the tennis star.
And Charles Darwin described caracaras as "false eagles," but Jonathan Meiburg thinks the bird of prey has been unfairly maligned for centuries. He discusses what he's learned from studying the birds in Central and South America, and his new book, A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of The World's Smartest Birds of Prey.