"My Name is Philip Michael Cape, and I am a residential school success story."

"I will pass no first-hand knowledge of my culture to my children."

Cochrane resident Phil Cape was removed from his home in the McKay First Nation at age 2, became a ward of the state, and sent to residential school. He followed in the steps of his grandmother and mother, who were also sent to residential school at a young age.  

Now 44, he met his birth mother for the first time in his 30s, and in late 2020 she passed away.

He is the first in his direct family line that has been allowed by the government to raise children on his own and has no first-hand knowledge of his culture. He says that's exactly what the Canadian government set out to do when Prime Minister John A. Macdonald tasked Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin to establish the residential school system.

"He (Grandin) actually said in about 1899 that the object of the residential school system was to instill in the children a profound distaste for native life and that they should feel humiliated when reminded of their origin so when they graduate from our institutions, the children have lost everything native except their blood," says Cape.

"I like to say I'm a success story because my grandmother was put into the residential school system. By the time my birth mother was four, she a ward of the state in the residential school system, and by the time I was two years old, I was a ward of the state and put into a school.

"First Nations history is passed down through first-hand oral storytelling. I didn't get any of that. I will pass none of that on to my daughters, and they will pass absolutely none on to their children.

"So, a little schoolhouse built on the Prairie 100 years ago did exactly what it was intended to do. From my grandmother to my daughters, there's nothing left native in us except our blood. I am the perfect outcome of why the schools were created."

With the shocking discovery of unmarked graves of children multiplying, more and more people have been reaching out to learn more about our nation's residential schools.

"I've found over the last few weeks that almost every person I've talked to about it is shocked and flabbergasted that this took place in the country they live in, and this is why we talk about Truth and Reconciliation. We can't have reconciliation until we start talking about the truth, and the fact is a lot of Canadians are completely blind to what happened and why the residential schools were created in the first place."

Cape makes it clear he doesn't pretend to have solutions or answers but has added his story to the conversation.

"Everyone who hears the stories want to be part of the conversation. It has been amazing."

But it can't end there.

"I've been through many Orange Shirt Days. I've been to many events where the very next day the plaza is cleaned up, and we move on to the next topic. I've personally witnessed Justin Trudeau promise clean water four times, and there's still not a single water pipe in the ground. We need to create a system where First Nations can recognize their true allies."

"Allies, not Apologies" is a project he has been working towards for years. It's in the early stages and aims to provide a database for First Nations people to help determine who are their true political allies.

"For the longest time, every four years, politicians would put on their headdresses, come out to reserves, promise fresh water, and then leave."

The result will be a database of statements of politicians on First Nation issues.

"So they can see which people who came out to campaign actually have their best interest at heart, will be there the day after the election, and won't just disappear for another four years.

He believes identifying allies will allow for a more truthful conversation.

He says it is completely nonpartisan and that his contribution is to create the database and platform.

"I'm 44 years old, I have 40 years of personal bias. This is something that needs to be turned over to the next generation so they can decide what they want in their leaders and what type of questions to ask them. I just have the ability to be able to get that system and platform up and running."

He is opposed to "cancel culture" and is concerned some interpret this as being anti-Canadian.

"That's not the conversation I'm trying to have. I am against cancel culture. I abhor it. I think it's absolutely dangerous. Why? Because that's what happened to us. We had our language cancelled, we've had our culture cancelled, we've had our religion cancelled. That's cancel culture.

"Renaming a school so children don't have to relive that pain every day is compassion, not cancel culture.

"It isn't all or nothing. You don't have to have public monuments and schools named after to keep Canadian identity, but you can say we recognize these people helped create the country but we also recognize that some of it was done in a terrible way.

"We don't have to force kids into those schools named after them or into their municipal buildings walking past statues of them. That's a colonial mindset, and that will limit an honest conversation. Because if you stand honestly and say, 'I can't have Canada without this statue here,' then we haven't even started to speak truthfully to each other."

He wants his daughters to grow up knowing they are First Nations Canadians, not First Nations Victims. 

"We can't move forward honestly if my daughters are taught by the system that they are victims. They're not. They're independent little girls who can master the world on their own. I just have to give them the tools."

He has been asked if it's right to celebrate Canada Day this year.

"Enjoy Canada Day. What do Canadians do best? We get together and celebrate with our families. If we have a little bit of a different conversation this year, that's great. But no one is saying cancel it, just recognized that it may not be the same day for everybody. I know a lot of people who are treating Canada Day as a somber day, and we've got to remember that."

Other related topics were discussed. The full interview is attached.