INUVIK - Whenever John Banksland hears the Canadian government chastising another country over its human rights abuses, a feeling of frustration and resentment wells within him.

The 67-year-old Inuvialuit elder says the Canadian government has no right to condemn anyone until it comes to terms with the harm residential schools have inflicted upon countless aboriginal people across Canada.

Residential school survivor John Banksland was appointed to the Indian Residential School Survivor Committee earlier this month, which will help advise and guide the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as they hear stories from school survivors. - Katie May/NNSL photo

"Canada has had this under its rug for over 100 years," he said. "We are the leaders in upholding human rights; that's the impression other countries have. Yet we have this issue. But survivors are starting to talk now. They're not scared to talk anymore."

The 16 years he spent at two residential schools in Aklavik and Yellowknife left him unable to speak his own language and caused a permanent divide between him and his family living in Ulukhaktok.

"From the time I entered the school at the age five, they beat the Inuvialuktun language out of me. I sit beside my brothers and sisters now and we can't communicate. That's what I'm left to reconcile."

Earlier this month Banksland was among 10 former students of residential schools appointed as advisers to the federal government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which will begin hearing from survivors across the country.

Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said in a press release that the Indian Residential School Survivor Committee's role will be to offer advice and guidance to the three-person commission, led by Manitoba Justice Murray Sinclair, as it gathers stories from people about their residential school experiences.

While Banksland attempts to better understand his role on the committee, he is steadfastly focused on what he wants from the Truth and Reconciliation commission, which is expected to conclude its work by 2014.

"We will be normal Canadian citizens. We're not going to be wards of the government," he said. "We're not going to be dependent on government and we will be contributing to Canadian society as normal Canadian citizens in every way."

Representing a remote area of the country with many residential school survivors, he's hoping the commission will reach as many communities in the North as possible.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission arose from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement that was negotiated in 2006 between former students, the federal government, churches and the Assembly of First Nations along with aboriginal organizations. The purpose of it is to give ex-students an opportunity to tell their stories in a supportive environment and create a historical account of the residential schools system.

Approximately 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Metis children were forced to attend residential schools. About 85,000 former residential school students are still living.

Banksland also sits on the Northwest Territories Residential School Interagency Committee and the National Residential School Survivors' Society.

After the signing of the Inuvialuit Land Claim in 1985, he worked as the claim implementation director for the Inuvialuit Development Corporation. He was also the treasurer for Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. He said in those positions he was again frustrated because he couldn't speak to his people in Inuvialuktun.

The Inuvik resident's appointment to the committee came at the recommendation of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and its CEO and chair Nellie Cournoyea, who said Banksland brings a lot to the table with his intelligence, residential school experiences as well as his deep ties to many survivors from across the North. She said the commission is a long time coming and hopes the process will provide healing for many.

"In order for people to deal with their experiences effectively and those deep social impacts to be dealt with, those stories have to be known," she said. "At the time, many didn't have anyone to talk to. If you were a real Roman Catholic, to try to tell family members what's happening, particularly if it involved the clergy, how hard is that? They wouldn't believe it."

Banksland is quick to point out his residential experience exposed him to a wealth of education, which he benefited from. He's certain many others share that view.

"Ninety per cent of my experience was good, 10 per cent was very bad," he said. "Those stories have to be told. Then we as a country have to deal with this."