Eileen Clarke

The agreement allows the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to request the documents from the provincial Vital Statistics Branch. Until now, the documents were available to family members, while researchers and others needed to obtain special permission for any given document.

The government's response to it — led by remarks that were repeatedly revised — would lead to the resignation of a cabinet minister, would prompt veiled criticism of then-premier Brian Pallister from government caucus members and may have hastened Pallister's departure from the premier's office.