Stolen Season 2: Surviving St. Michael's

Last May, investigative journalist Connie Walker came upon a story about her late father she'd never heard before. One night back in the late 1970s while he was working as an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he pulled over a suspected drunk driver. He walked up to the vehicle and came face-to-face with a ghost from his past—a residential school priest. What happened on the road that night set in motion an investigation that would send Connie deep into her own past, trying to uncover the secrets of her family and the legacy of trauma passed down through the generations.

In Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s, Connie unearths how her family's story fits into one of Canada's darkest chapters: the residential school system.

Where to Listen

Connie Walker: Last year, my brother Hal told me a story about our late dad. I'd never heard it before, and now I can't let it go.

Connie: What was his mood when he was telling you that?

Hal Cameron: No regrets, no remorse for what he had done.

Connie: In the 1970s, my dad was a police officer in rural Saskatchewan. One night while out on patrol, he saw a car swerving on the road and he pulled it over. When he walked up to the window, he recognized the man behind the wheel.

Hal Cameron: As being one of the priests that—and he said, one of the priests that abused him in residential school. And he ended up taking him out of the vehicle and beating the shit out of him.

Connie: This story brought me home, home to a mystery in my own family that I need to solve.

Connie: Did he tell you who the priest was, or anything about him?

Hal Cameron: No, he didn't. No.

Norlaine Cameron: I've never heard him mention names, but I knew he had stories.

Eugene Arcand: I think I know who it is but, you know, I'm not gonna say it on this thing.

Connie: My search for answers has led me to the St. Michael's Indian Residential School.

Frank Badger: That first day I stepped into that residential school my childhood was gone.

Connie: The truth about St. Michael's has been kept hidden, sealed by courts and buried in archives. Investigating what happened to my dad at that school has exposed a much darker secret.

Connie: What is this? It looks like they're photos of boys undressing.

Woman: Somebody would come and get me, but I didn't want to.

Man: They were hit so hard. Oh my goodness, I can remember the screams.

Auntie Lorraine: He is the one that said he was sexually abused by a priest.

Connie: Did he say which priest?

Auntie Lorraine: Um ...

A.J. Felix: They got away with it. They got away with it. But then it's not over.

Connie: You mean they could still be charged?

A.J. Felix: Oh yes.

Connie: Oh my God. I think he's still alive. I want to go see him.

Connie: How did you—are you telling the truth about your own experiences?

Father Gauthier: Huh?

Connie: Are you telling the truth about your experiences with children?

Connie: Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's premieres May 17. Follow and listen for free only on Spotify.

Antoine Sand: If those were workers of God, I hate to see what the devil would do.