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EDMONTON — Premier Rachel Notley has formally apologized for Alberta’s role in the ’60s Scoop, and although survivors say that doesn’t close the book on one of Canada’s darkest episodes, they say it does open a new chapter of reconciliation and healing.

“We are sorry,” Notley said in the legislature Monday as survivors sat in the gallery, some wiping away tears.

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“For the loss of families, stability, of love, we are sorry. For the loss of identity, language and culture, we are sorry. For the loneliness, the anger, the confusion and the frustration, we are sorry.

“For the government practice that left you, Indigenous people, estranged from your families and your communities and your history, we are sorry. For this trauma, this pain, this suffering, alienation and sadness, we are sorry.

“To all of you, I am sorry.”

From the 1950s to the late 1980s, about 20,000 Indigenous children were seized from their birth families and relocated to non-Indigenous homes, stripping the children of their language, traditions and family ties.