Ahead of the release of her interim report on progress as Canada’s special interlocutor on unmarked graves at former residential schools, Kimberly Murray says lawmakers at all levels of government shouldn’t be waiting for her findings to act.

Citing examples of gaps she’s already identified, such as the drawn-out process to obtain records and the various approvals needed to access privately-owned land for ceremonies and searches, Murray said there’s a lot that governments could be doing now, as she continues her work.

“I speak a little bit about this in the interim report, about some of the things like waiving fees for records for communities to be able to access information,” Murray told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview. “We don’t need to wait to the end of my mandate to make some changes and put some things in place.”

A series of devastating discoveries of unmarked graves at former residential schools in Canada over the last two years reinvigorated calls to action. This prompted the federal government to appoint Murray to work with Indigenous people and make recommendations to strengthen federal laws and practices to protect and preserve unmarked burial sites.

Murray was also asked to help Indigenous communities weave through jurisdictional and legal hurdles at burial sites, and facilitate dialogue with relevant governments and institutions, including churches. Murray’s appointment also included plans to address issues around the identification and protection of unmarked graves, including the repatriation of remains.

Murray is set to table an interim report on her progress on June 16, marking a year since she assumed the role.

She told Kapelos that her coming report will highlight additional areas of concern identified by survivors and communities about the barriers they’re facing in trying to find their children, from costs associated with accessing documentation, to the need for legislative reform.

“It shouldn’t take 50 years to find out where your child is buried,” Murray said. “And we write about a couple of examples in our interim report that’s coming out.”

“It’s just terrible that families are having to go through this to determine what happened to their child,” she said.

Watch the full interview with Murray, in the video player above.

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Front Burner

From foreign interference to attempts to block the budget, we dive into some of the top stories simmering in Ottawa, in the final couple weeks before MPs break for the summer.

Front Burner25:04Politics roundup: David Johnston, budget tactics and byelections

MPs have just a couple weeks before Parliament is set to break for the summer, but there’s still a lot going on in Ottawa. David Johnston continues to fend off calls to step aside as special rapporteur on foreign interference, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is signalling Conservatives will continue to protest the Liberals’ budget in the Senate, despite its passage in the House of Commons, and the People’s Party of Canada leader is trying to make his return to the Parliament.

On this episode, guest host Saroja Coelho dives into the top political stories with Catherine Cullen, host of the CBC political podcast, The House.

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is looking forward to working with the federal government on dealing with climate change.

Ms. Smith made the commitment Friday as she unveiled a post-election cabinet in Edmonton, naming 25 members. Story here. There is a full list of ministers here.

She was also asked in an interview this week – story here – whether she believes in human-caused climate change.

Ms. Smith said she does. “We have to reduce emissions. That is one of the commitments we have made as a government, and that is one of the commitments I have made to the Prime Minister, that we will work with him on getting to carbon neutrality by 2050.”

But she said she is concerned that the Prime Minister wants to move much faster on two initiatives that would not allow us to achieve our goal and would, she said, “hamstring our economy” and devastate the lives and livelihoods of Alberta family.

Ms. Smith has been opposed to both the federal government’s plan to force provinces to slash emissions from their electricity grids, starting in 2035 and an emissions cap for the oil and gas sector that is to take effect in 2030.

“I will work collaboratively with the federal government on the objective they have set, and I have put out a hand of goodwill to ask him to work with us on that, and I am hoping that happens.”

Earlier this week, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told journalists on Parliament Hill that, once an Alberta cabinet was named, he would reach out for talks on climate-change policy “as we have done despite what the public perception might be.”

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