24 Feb 10

Headline : British PM apologizes to 'home children'

Well here's an interesting story. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized Wednesday for a government program instituted in the 19th century that sent poor children from London's slums overseas to do hard labour in British colonies, including 100,000 to Canada. This went on from 1860s to 1939.
The churches and philanthropic organizations that sent the orphaned, abandoned and pauper children, usually between the ages of nine and 14, to Canada were "motivated by social and economic forces." In other words they were making money from it, somehow. The good old church up to its usually questionable practices. Apparently most kids were welcomed by poor farming communities as a source of cheap labour and domestic help.
Unbelievable that they would export kids to foreign lands instead of putting them to work themselves.
Australia has also apologized last November for its part, but Canada has no plans to.