The Toronto District School Board is requesting nearly $22 million to demolish a Toronto Indigenous school and daycare and reconstruct a new one on the basis that the current structure is too emblematic of an Indigenous residential school.
The TDSB is requesting funding on behalf of the Kapapamahchakwew Wandering Spirit School from the Ontario Ministry of Education to construct an entirely new building to help “Indigenous students who carry the intergenerational trauma from Canada’s legacy of Residential Schools.”
Despite the province already granting the TDSB $11.5 million to renovate the current JK-12 school and childcare centre in 2018, TDSB is now asking for financing for a completely new “fully Indigenized standalone school to support Indigenous communities in the City of Toronto.”
TDSB said the current building can no longer be retrofitted with the previous funds initially granted for the renovation in a way that would “provide a truly decolonized environment where Indigenous programs can exist without the interference of colonial practices.”
In its Business Case to the ministry, obtained by True North, in order to meet “the unique needs of Kapapamahchakwew – Wandering Spirit School” a funding contribution of $21,962,231 is needed to construct a new school “exclusively used by Indigenous programs and services.”
“The funds allocated in 2018 are not sufficient to support the cost of the replacement school. The Board has made significant progress to align the future school to Ministry benchmarks, however, the current funding allocation is insufficient to support the construction of a new school due to existing market conditions,” reads the business case.
TDSB cites the uncovering of mass unmarked graves of Indigenous children subjected to Canada’s residential school system as a catalyst for the discussion of their collective commitments to Truth and Reconciliation.
“The 16 Phin building was designed and constructed to meet the needs of a colonial education system in the early 1900’s. As an imposing and expansive monolith, the building is not well suited in its current design, layout, or presence to serve as the permanent home,” reads the proposal.
According to TDSB, the current buildings’ “stark resemblance” to “the many residential schools that dotted the Canadian landscape until the mid 1990’s doesn’t provide for an environment that honors Indigenous voices and self determination.”
The image of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, where the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were allegedly found in 2021 is juxtaposed alongside the current school building. No human remains have been found at the Kamloops residential school since the claim was made.
TDSB said the only way to eliminate the “association with residential schools and to provide instructional spaces suited for Indigenous ways of learning,” is to construct a new facility that must be “designed by Indigenous architects” for Indigenous communities.
However, TDSB wishes to retain the location of 16 Phin, “although the building isn’t appropriate,” because it offers 4.9 acres and is “large enough to accommodate a new facility.”
“Once the new facility opens, the existing 16 Phin building would be used for the Urban Indigenous Education Centre (UIEC) until funding is secured to expand the new school to include this group.”
The long term plan would be to have the current building demolished as it not only bears an aesthetic resemblance of a residential school, alleges TDSB, but also the “smell, and unpleasant acoustic qualities which are representative of the colonial residential schools.”