Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - December 4, 2024 - An Ontario coroner's investigation has identified 220 additional deaths linked to Indian residential schools in the province, bringing the total of known deaths in the province to 656, and counting.

The Residential Schools Death Investigation Team, assembled by Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner in 2021, confirmed the details mainly through line-by-line analysis of public and protected records complemented by extensive archival research.

The number one cause of death the team encountered was infectious disease, but the files also reveal tragic and even horrific deaths that would likely meet the bar for criminal negligence if they occurred today.

The coroner's findings are significant but unsurprising for Laura Arndt, executive lead at the Survivors' Secretariat, a non-profit organization representing survivors of the Mohawk Institute.

The government estimates more than 150,000 kids attended the church-run, state-funded residential school system.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) has documented more than 4,000 deaths countrywide.