Three generations of Indigenous panelists join us this week on what The Backbench thought was the biggest story of 2021: the unmarked graves on former residential school grounds. We break format to take stock of what has been promised and repromised, the diversity of demands from Indigenous communities, and what a new "interlocutor" position can do to help with healing.

The discovery of 215 residential school children in a mass grave spurs this week's discussion on how journalists report stories about Indigenous people. And in the wake of this news, a Bill that could empower Indigenous children is largely eclipsed. 

102 Indigenous children died in Ontario’s child welfare system because of underfunding and an indefensible inequality of services.

If there's one lesson we can take away from what's happened with Jody Wilson-Raybould, it's to tape all of your calls. And what's more important to the Trudeau Liberals: reconciliation or cold hard donations?

Betty Ann Adam is a reporter with the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. She is also a survivor of the “Sixties Scoop”. When she was a toddler, the Canadian government pried her from her mother’s arms. She was raised by foster parents. A modern version of this is still happening to Indigenous children across Canada.  

Welcome back to a brand-new season of Commons! To kick things off, the Commons team is profiling each of the four candidates vying to replace Thomas Mulcair as leader of the federal NDP. This week, we speak with Guy Caron. Also, we look at the summer political stories that evolved while we were on hiatus: the Charlottesville tragedy and subsequent events in Canada, the influx of asylum seekers crossing the border and Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle which may have just doubled the bureaucracy for Indigenous peoples.