CBC:   After six years of travelling the country to hear testimony from 7,000 witnesses about their experiences at residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission wraps up this week in Ottawa.

The final event kicked off yesterday with thousands of people participating in a reconciliation walk through the nation’s capital. The summary of the commission’s report will be released Tuesday.

“I never, ever envisioned that this would happen, that thousands of people would gather to give expression to the idea that we are … all one,” said Chief Robert Joseph, ambassador for Reconciliation Canada and a member of the National Assembly of First Nations elders council.

“And that includes me, somebody who was so terribly beat up in these residential schools that I felt absolutely worthless, no purpose in my life. And now here I am and I see all this humanity, and I’m inspired to my soul that people care enough to come out and walk with us today. And we walk together.”

When the commission began in June 2010, there were high hopes it would help repair the relationship between aboriginal people and the rest of Canada. However, as the TRC winds down, many seem conflicted about the state of reconciliation in Canada.

• Residential schools findings point to ‘cultural genocide,’ commission chair says
• Truth & Reconciliation Commission: More stories, photos, videos, analysis

About 150,000 children attended residential school over more than 100 years, starting in 1880s until the last school was closed in 1996. Many students as young children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to the schools to live. The commission heard thousands of statements about their experiences, which often included emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

Viv Ketchum, a survivor who travelled to Ottawa to attend the final TRC event, was hopeful after hearing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology in 2008, but has since been disappointed by the process.

Vivian Ketchum, 51, attended Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in northern Ontario starting when she was 5. She came to Ottawa for the final TRC events this week. (CBC)

“I don’t expect much to happen after, I don’t think,” she said. “This is just going to be one final hurrah for us and we’re just going to be placed aside. I think that’s the reality for us [survivors].”

Some of the truths about residential schools uncovered in the last six years include horror stories of homemade electric chairs, malnutrition experiments and the deaths of more 6,000 children.

Justice Murray Sinclair, head of the commission, said that number is likely higher.

“Undoubtedly, the most shocking piece of information that we uncovered was the number of children who died in the schools,” Sinclair said. “The number of children who died was a significant number, and we think that we have not uncovered anywhere near what the total would be because the record keeping around that question was very poor.”

Final report

Sinclair will release a 300-page executive summary of the final report on Tuesday.

“The report itself — just by its size alone — is going to document as full a story of residential schools as has ever been documented in the past.” Sinclair told CBC News last week.

The report will include recommendations, and many expect Sinclair to argue that Canada’s treatment of aboriginal people in residential schools be deemed “cultural genocide.”

In an interview with CBC’s Power and Politics on Friday, Sinclar said the “evidence is mounting that the government did try to eliminate the culture and language of indigenous people for well over 100 years.”

“They did it by forcibly removing from their families and placing them within institutions that were cultural indoctrination centres, really,” he said. “That appears to us to fall within the definition of genocide — within the UN convention of genocide.”

Last week, Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin also said Canada attempted “cultural genocide” against aboriginal people.

It’s a term some residential school survivors themselves used when giving testimony about the abuse they endured in the schools. A volume of survivor testimony will be released in the final report, which will eventually contain six volumes and approximately two million words, according to Sinclair.

Vivian Ketchum has never told her full story at one of the national events. It is too painful for her to recount.  She hesitated travelling to Ottawa to take part in the final event, but said she came to honour her ancestors.

“A lot of open wounds. A lot of memories are just coming back to me right now, some that I didn’t even know were there,” she said.

“I think it’s extremely important that somebody of my position doesn’t engage in the electoral processes of another country”, Trudeau cautioned. Fear doesn’t make us safer.

Trump, the boisterous businessman who is leading in the polls among candidates for the Republican nomination, has attacked immigration and suggested that Muslims be barred from entering the United States.

“I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anybody that I stand firmly against the politics of division, the politics of fear, the politics of intolerance or hateful rhetoric”, he said.

“Painting ISIS and others with a broad brush that extends to all Muslims is not just ignorant, it is irresponsible”.

“If you want to serve Canadians well… you have to listen to them, you have to get to know people, you have to be engaged in real conversations and talking about their hopes and dreams for the country”, he said.

Trudeau dismissed criticisms from both journalists and the public that his governing style is soft-spoken and relies heavily on charm. “It’s a mistake to equate understanding “soft power” with weakness”.

After promising to stop the Conservative government’s plan to end home delivery of the mail, he now says there are “legitimate questions” about the service Canadians expect from Canada Post.

Die-hard Star Wars fan Justin Trudeau made a decision to spread the “Force” on Tuesday night with 20 patients from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

One Canadian had a very specific question: Why does he always wear the same shoes?

OTTAWA-The prime minister says there’s potential for a bit of revenue from legalizing marijuana, but the federal government isn’t looking for a financial windfall.

‘Our goal as we move forward together is clear: it is to lift this burden from your shoulders, from those of your families, and communities.

OTTAWA – Police officers need access to personal information about Internet subscribers without getting a warrant in order to prevent child exploitation and financial crimes, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson says.And he says he plans on talking to the new Liberal government about how to go about getting it. Story continues below

“I’m all for warrantless access to subscriber info. If I had to get a judge on the phone every time I wanted to run a license plate when I was doing my policing, there wouldn’t have been much policing getting done,” Paulson told a security conference on Wednesday.READ MORE: Feds ponder warrantless police access to Internet subscriber infoHe later added, “We get more data off a license plate query than we would over a customer’s name and address off an IP address. I think society has got to come to ground on that.“That’s what I really want for Christmas.”In June last year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled police must have a judge’s authorization to obtain customer data linked to online activities. Paulson said this ruling has “put a chill” on starting investigations.Paulson supports an “administrative” scheme that would give police ready access to a customer’s name and address while respecting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said in August this option is being considered by federal officials in response to the court’s ruling.“We are very respectful of the Charter and people’s Charter rights, and no one is recommending that we go any further but there needs to be some sort of administrative access to basic subscriber information, like a phone book,” Paulson said.Paulson says society has to come to terms with policing in the Internet age and police need the tools to investigate.READ MORE: Lunch with RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson: Marijuana use ‘not as big a deal’ as it used to be“People are coming to the police and they’re saying, ‘hey I was victimized on the Internet.’ Companies are coming to us and saying ‘hey, my exclusive information was stolen through the Internet.’ Governments are coming to us and they’re saying, ‘hey these people are infiltrating our databases and violating privacy of individuals.’ It’s a serious problem, and they’re coming to the police for a just outcome,” he said.“It’s hard to keep people safe on the internet right now. the best advice i think we can give people is either a) don’t go, which is not working, or b) if you go, be really really really careful.“And if something bad happens to you, hopefully we’ll be able to help you, but there’s no guarantee.”– with files from The Canadian Press