It was 150 years ago, and they were trying to bring Indians living in poverty up to the modern. They were not feeling racist, they were feeling like they were human and deserved the opportunity to participate in the modern world.
Like the Spanish conquistadors, the workers at the schools were heroes doing a difficult job.
When the Vikings landed in Nova Scotia, they name they Indians “scraelings” which meant wretches.
He was talking about what took place over 2000 years in Europe, not so narrowly focused on 150 years ago in Canada.
The Vikings were not upholding christian principles when they first encountered the Inuit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skr%C3%A6ling