The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report on residential schools called the era in Canadian history "cultural genocide" and a new poll says the majority of Manitobans agree the term fits.

Clarence Nepinak is proud of his Ojibway heritage. But for eleven years, while he attended a residential school, he was taught the Indigenous way was wrong.

“By the time I was sixteen,  I almost lost my language,” said Nepinak.

Nepinak calls what he went through cultural genocide, a term recently used in the Truth and Reconciliation report to describe the residential school system.

"When you think of the word genocide you think of the holocaust, you think of the Armenian genocide, and all of these things that have happened," said Vice-President at Probe Research Curtis Brown.

The pollster says the term is being debated, so they asked 1,000 Manitoba residents if Canada committed cultural genocide through its use of residential schools in a questionnaire for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Results showed:

  • 64% Agree
  • 27% Disagree
  • 10% Unsure

"I think calling it genocide just recognizes that there was actually serious harm done and it was done with the intent of actually destroying the culture," said Ry Moran, Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Moran said Monday this poll shows people are paying attention to a dark part of Canadian history, especially the younger generation.

When the 18 to 35 year old respondents are isolated, it shows 73% agree Canada committed cultural genocide.

"I think the study shows the young people that are coming up get it and there's a new day dawning in this country so it's exciting,” said Moran.

The poll also asked if the federal government has already done enough to address the problems caused by residential schools.

That showed a split response:

  • 45% Agree
  • 47% Disagree
  • 8% Unsure

Clarence Nepinak believes the healing needs to come from within the indigenous community and said a good first step is to tear down barriers from stopping survivors from healing in their own way.

Probe Research says with a sample of 1,000, the results are 95 percent accurate and are within +/- 3.1 percentage points of what they would be if the whole adult population of Manitoba had been polled. As well, the margin-of-error increases in each of the survey’s sub-groups.