Peter Henderson Bryce was a medical doctor, civil servant and public health expert. In 1907, after surveying 35 residential schools, he submitted a report to the Department of Indian Affairs detailing the connection between the residential school system, disease and the high rate of mortality among students. His calls to action fell on deaf ears. Bryce’s findings would remain suppressed until he left public service. Fifteen years after his initial report, he published an 18-page “appeal for justice”—a pamphlet detailing for the public everything he knew and everything the government knew about the health conditions in and as a result of Canada’s residential school system.

This is The Story of a National Crime, new podcast from Knockabout Media, coming this fall.

This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.