Phil Fontaine spent more than a decade pushing the Catholic Church to apologize for its role in Canada’s residential school system, to no avail — until Pope Francis answered the call.

Pope Francis continues his week-long tour of Canada where he’s apologizing for the Catholic Church’s role in running residential schools — very similar to ones across the United States ...

Canada Files. Canada Files | Phil Fontaine. 5/13/2025 | 28m Video has Closed Captions | CC. Former Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Spoke out publicly about abusive residential schools.

Fontaine was one of the first to speak publicly about abuse at residential schools when he recounted in 1990 his own experiences at the Fort Alexander Residential School in Manitoba.

Residential school survivor Phil Fontaine and lawyer Kathleen Mahoney are days away from their third encounter with a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine spent years fighting for an official apology from the Catholic Church for its role in residential school abuses. Fontaine told ...

Pope Francis arrives at the Commonwealth Stadium to celebrate mass, in Edmonton, Canada, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. At right in the audience is seen Phil Fontaine, Former Chief of the Assembly of ...

Bert Fontaine and his younger sibling endured and overcame traumatic experiences at a church-run residential school. The older brother of former Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil ...

Phil Fontaine, shown in 1997 after his election as AFN grand chief, wrote in The Globe about the abuse he suffered in residential school. Nick Procaylo/The Canadian Press ...

Kamloops Indian Residential School survivor Clayton Peters, 64, who was forced into the school for 10 years, sits on the lawn at the former school, in Kamloops, B.C., in May 2021. For over a ...