Exactly five years ago last weekend, the man now known as Mr Katy Perry — but then known as the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau — ordered that the flags be lowered to half-mast on all Canadian federal buildings. This was out of respect for the indigenous children who had died in the country’s residential schools that were government-funded and run by Christian churches from the 19th century to the late 20th century. Thousands of unmarked graves for those children had just been discovered, it was reported, forcing the country into, to use the lingo of the time, a racial reckoning. Horrifying claims emerged: that priests had beheaded children; that nuns had forced children to bury babies; that during a 1964 visit to Kamloops Residential School, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had invited children on a picnic who were never seen again.
