News Releases and Media Advisories

Statement by Chief Adjudicator Dan Shapiro, on a decision by Ontario Superior Court of Justice Paul M. Perell, who has ordered the destruction of Independent Assessment Process (IAP) records following a 15 year retention period.

"I am pleased with Justice Perell’s decision, which affirms that promises of confidentiality were properly made to claimants in the Independent Assessment Process. The Court has issued a clear statement confirming the privacy of claimants and others identified in compensation claim records. This will be a huge relief to the thousands of claimants who have appeared at our hearings fully expecting that their accounts of the abuse they suffered at Indian Residential Schools would not be made public without their consent.

“We are currently studying the decision and look forward to its implementation, including a notice program to advise claimants that they can provide their personal information in certain compensation claim records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) if they choose to do so. We have supported this voluntary right of claimants, provided that documents are redacted to protect the personal information of others, the necessity of which the court also recognizes.“

Mr. Shapiro is currently taking summer holidays and is not available for interviews.

Link to Court decision