Montreal to host international tribunal on Indigenous children deaths next May

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) will hold an opinion tribunal investigating Canada’s role in the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous children in Montreal in May 2026.

The opinion tribunal will be hosted by Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and will include testimonies to determine whether Canada committed genocide and crimes against humanity — backed by roughly 2,000 pieces of evidence, according to the organizers.

Kwetiio, a member of the Mohawk Mothers or Kanien’keha:ka Ka’nistensera, said, “We are the people that are going to guide this and our only want is healing.”

“In my language, there is no word for sorry, because that word sorry doesn’t mean anything,” Kwetiio added. “In our way, when you did something wrong, you fix it.”

Growing up in , Kwetiio heard countless stories of abuse. One man in her community became a constant reminder of what happened to her people — a child sent to “the hospital” she says, who returned forever changed. Seeing him every day was a stark symbol of that trauma.

“This man came back and he was a shell. They lobotomized him. And he used to walk up and down the street with his head down, and there was no response from him. He would drool,” Kwetiio recalled.

Canadian Senator and a recognized Indigenous leader Michèle Audette said that the tribunal will be an opportunity for many voices to be heard, some for the very first time.

“[T]here is formal and official structure or inquiry or tribunal, but when it’s a grassroot one, but in a format that it’s been there for a long time, for me, it’s just like, ‘wow, it’s awesome,’” Audette said.

According to Audette, the testimonies collected will benefit the Canadian government and the society at large.

“To say we heard that during those tribunals,” Audette added, “For me, it has the same impact (as) if it were an academic one or in the court system. It’s the same. The power is there.”

“We don’t wait for government to speak out, we don’t wait for any system to remind the system is failing us. So I think it’s important,” the senator continued.

PPT is an international human rights organization founded in Bologna, Italy in 1979 to condemn dictatorships in Latin America.  Since its founding, the grassroots initiative has held more than 50 sessions worldwide.

PPT was an offshoot of the Russell Tribunal that investigated America’s actions in Vietnam. It was organized by Nobel Prize winning British philosopher Bertrand Russell and hosted by several notable figures in the 1960s

The hearings will take place May 25 to 29, 2026 at the daphne art centre. It will feature testimonies, legal arguments, and deliberations before the Tribunal’s final ruling.