In the News

NDP MP says Catholic Church owes money to residential school survivors

NDP MP Charlie Angus was “deeply distressed” when he heard Wednesday that Pope Francis will not apologize for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in Canadian residential schools.

Now Angus wants the church to pay what he says is owed to residential school survivors. “The Catholic church had legal obligations to pay into the (residential school) compensation fund for the crimes that were committed by its orders, under its watch, and under its direction — and they walked away on that agreement and they did not pay their share,” said Angus.

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At the time, Andrew Saranchuk, assistant deputy minister from the Indigenous Affairs department, told a concerned B.C. resident that a July 16, 2016 court settlement “released the Catholic entities from all three of their financial obligations under the settlement agreement, including the ‘best efforts’ fundraising campaign, in exchange for a repayment of $1.2-million in administrative fees,” reported The Globe and Mail.

The horrors of St. Anne s

The preteen girls would take turns with the towel in the bathroom of St. Anne’s Indian Residential School.

One at a time they would wrap it around their throats and pull it tight.

“We called it getting high. We’d get dizzy, lightheaded,” one of them said nearly two decades later, on Aug. 3, 1993, during an interview with Ontario Provincial Police investigators in Room 251 of the Howard Johnson Hotel in London, Ont.

“We looked forward to it,” said the residential school survivor, whose name is redacted in the OPP transcript. “It was an escape.”

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The transcript of the interview is among thousands of pages of OPP records from a sprawling investigation into abuse at St. Anne’s obtained by CBC News.

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But from 2008 to 2014, the federal government omitted references to the OPP investigation, including the convictions, from the official St. Anne’s record, known as the school narrative, used during compensation hearings created by the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

The school narrative is a key piece of evidence for compensation cases heard under the agreement’s Independent Assessment Process (IAP). Adjudicators who hear survivors’ stories can refer to the school narrative as one way to determine the veracity of a claim.

Pope Rejects Call for Apology to Canada s Indigenous People

Despite a personal appeal from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Roman Catholic Church has said that Pope Francis will not apologize for its role in a Canadian system that forced generations of Indigenous children into boarding schools.

The residential school system, as it is commonly known in Canada, was described as a form of “cultural genocide” by a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 that also concluded that many students were physically and emotionally abused.

Among its 94 recommendations was a call for an apology from the pope. The Catholic Church, along with several Protestant denominations, operated most of the schools for the government.

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Some in the Vatican have worried about the legal implications of apologies in cases with potentially large damages. About 50 Catholic organizations agreed to a financial settlement in the case of residential schools but were unable to raise enough money to fully cover the commitment. A 2015 court ruling released them from fulfilling the agreement.

Labrador residential school survivors left out of federal apology and settlement

Leah Ford recalls the abuse she endured as a seven- and eight-year-old student at a residential school in Makkovik, Labrador run by the Moravian Church. Older students in the girls’ dorm made her steal food and cigarettes from a teacher’s room. When she was caught she “got a beating on my bum,” she says. Other times Ford was whipped with a tree branch.

If she refused to steal, “I would have got beat up anyway,” the 80-year-old survivor explains, seated at the kitchen table of her apartment in a senior’s complex in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. ...

Ford is one of an untold number of residential school survivors from Newfoundland and Labrador who have waited decades for an acknowledgement of their suffering, an apology, and perhaps for other acts of recognition to help them on their healing journeys from the suffering they endured at the hands of colonial governments and institutions who abused and attempted to assimilate them....

...She was excluded from the class action settlement that compensated many of her fellow survivors, and was not an intended recipient of Trudeau’s apology on behalf of Canada.

SCC denies leave to Merchant Law Group LLP

The Supreme Court of Canada has denied leave to Merchant Law Group LLP to appeal a decision concerning a fraud action the government brought against the firm.

The Supreme Court dismissed the Saskatchewan-based firm’s request for leave Thursday in the latest instalment in a long legal battle over $25 million the government was ordered to pay Merchant Law Group in 2008.

The federal government launched the civil action against Merchant Law Group in 2015 to try to reclaim the sum, which was paid to the firm for work it had done on behalf of Indian residential schools survivors. The government brought its claim after a review conducted by accounting firm Deloitte indicated Merchant Law Group had illegitimate time entries and excessive disbursements in its billing records.

Indigenous advocates applaud compensation for student-on-student abuse

Indigenous advocates are praising the federal government’s plan to pursue settlements with former residential school residents who suffered student-on-student abuse — and they think the final number of victims will be far larger than the 240 cited by Ottawa.

“I think it’s a really good thing and a step toward healing for those people who are affected by this particular aspect of the residential school experience,” said Amy Bombay, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing and Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University.

According to a government news release, this new action to pursue negotiated settlements with survivors whose claims of student-on-student abuse were dismissed or did not receive fair compensation could help roughly 240 eligible former students.

Fight over secret St. Anne s residential school documents back in court

TORONTO — Survivors of the notorious St. Anne's residential school square off against the federal government this week in another round of a convoluted legal battle over document secrecy.

Among other things, the plaintiffs want Ontario's top court to order a review of all St. Anne's compensation claims adjudicated before the government disclosed thousands of documents from a 1990s criminal investigation by provincial police.

They also want the court to set aside a decision allowing Canada to keep secret civil-litigation materials — despite an initial ruling to turn them over. The documents were generated during 62 lawsuits related to horrific physical and sexual abuse 154 Indigenous people had suffered at St. Anne's in Fort Albany, Ont.

The two St. Anne's plaintiffs in this week's appeal — known as H-15019 and K-10106 — were both initially denied compensation but succeeded after a legal fight and reviews. They maintain the difficulties they had in advancing their claims can be attributed to the government's failure to disclose all relevant documents it had in its possession.

The case is expected to be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Abused by another student: N.W.T. residential school survivor hopes his testimony will get 2nd hearing

When Joachim Bonnetrouge testified about the abuse he endured at residential school as a child, part of his claim was rejected.

Lawyers working for the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement concurred Bonnetrouge should be compensated for abuse he faced at the hands of school staff, but his testimony about what occurred at the hands of a fellow student was ignored.

This is something the federal government wants to change. CBC News has learned the Canadian government is seeking residential school survivors whose testimony about student-on-student abuse was originally deemed ineligible for compensation. Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett is expected to announce a separate stream of funding outside the Independent Assessment Process for these claims.

The Independent Assessment Process has been criticized in the past for setting a high bar of proof for former students claiming student-on-student abuse.

Students abused by other students at residential schools to be compensated: Bennett

More than 200 former residential school students who suffered abuse at the hands of other students will receive compensation from the federal government.

Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says the government is embarking on a negotiated settlement with 240 students who she says may not have received fair compensation under the previous process.

Under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in 2005, the government agreed to compensation of more than $3 billion for 38,000 former students who were victims of abuse.

Feds to re-negotiate settlements for residential school student-on-student abuse

The government will pursue negotiated settlements with residential school survivors who were abused by fellow students, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett announced Tuesday. Close to 80,000 residential school survivors have been compensated since the government set up a fund in 2007. To date, however, students abused by their peers have been under-compensated or left out of the mix altogether. Bennett said the government will revisit those previously-negotiated claims, an action that could help 240 eligible former students. The claims will be negotiated outside of the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), an out-of-court settlement process used to “resolve claims of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, and other wrongful acts that have caused serious psychological harm to former students of Indian Residential Schools.” Using the IAP, the government has compensated 98 per cent of the 38,000 claims submitted — to the tune of over $3 billion.

Statement regarding Canada s pursuance of negotiated settlements with former Indian Residential School students who suffered student-on-student abuse

OTTAWA, March 13, 2018 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, made the following statement:

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The Independent Assessment Process established by the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement is an important tool for bringing about a sense of closure for survivors of this terrible chapter in our history. Tens-of-thousands of survivors have obtained compensation through this process. Its rules and procedures are the product of negotiations with all parties to the agreement and have been repeatedly upheld by the Courts. At the same time, the government believes that there are some instances where Indian Residential School survivors who suffered abuse at the hands of fellow students may not have received fair compensation.

Therefore I am announcing our Government will pursue negotiated settlements with survivors whose claims of student-on-student abuse were previously dismissed or under-compensated.  This action could help approximately 240 eligible former students by ensuring they receive fair compensation for abuse suffered at Indian residential schools.

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This statement is also available on the Internet at www.aandc.gc.ca.

Des indemnités pour les élèves autochtones

La ministre des Relations Couronne-Autochtones, Carolyn Bennett, a indiqué mardi que son gouvernement souhaitait conclure une entente négociée avec 240 anciens élèves qui n’ont pas été indemnisés par le biais du mécanisme habituel.

En vertu de la Convention de règlement relative aux pensionnats indiens, approuvée en 2006, le gouvernement fédéral accepte d’indemniser plus de 38000 anciens élèves qui ont été victimes d’agressions dans les pensionnats tenus par des communautés religieuses.

Students abused by other students at residential schools to be compensated: Bennett

OTTAWA - More than 200 former residential school students who suffered abuse at the hands of other students will receive compensation from the federal government.

Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says the government is embarking on a negotiated settlement with 240 students who she says may not have received fair compensation under the previous process.

Former Chief still fighting for compensation in St. Anne s residential school abuse case

For the fifth time, a former Chief of Fort Albany is in a Toronto courtroom seeking compensation for survivors of abuse at St. Anne's Residential School.

Edmund Metatawabin, himself a St. Anne's survivor, told CBC in December that he's aware of instances where other survivors were denied compensation for suffering caused by use of a homemade electric chair, or for being forced to eat their own vomit at the residential school.

They were denied, Metatawabin said, because of the lack of documentation.

Metatawabin and others are still trying to obtain documents they believe were withheld during the Independent Assessment Process.

Ottawa to pursue settlements with residential school survivors that suffered student-on-student abuse

The federal government will offer new payouts to about 240 residential school survivors who were unfairly compensated for alleged student-on-student abuse, the Star has learned.

Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett was set to announce the move Tuesday, which will see the government pursue negotiated settlements with former students who “may not have received fair compensation” for abuse perpetrated by other students at the notorious church-run schools for Indigenous children.

This means that roughly 240 student-on-student abuse claims will be settled outside the special process for compensation, the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), where claimants need to show that they reported this abuse to a school staff member, or that a staff member should have known it was going on — a higher bar for compensation than is required in staff-on-student cases, which only need to show that the abuse occurred.

Ottawa looks to settle with residential school survivors who were abused by other students

The Canadian government is pursuing settlements with former residential school residents who suffered student-on-student abuse and were left out of the compensation process, CBC News has confirmed.

Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett will formally announce Tuesday that the government will set up a separate stream outside of the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) to help those former students receive compensation. 

The payouts will go to former students who were abused by fellow students, and whose claims were rejected or did not receive fair compensation.

A government source said the government has identified at least 240 former students who could now be eligible for compensation. Their compensation will be paid out of federal money already budgeted for the residential school file; the department isn't sure yet how much the settlements will cost.

Fight over secret residential school documents back in court

Survivors of the notorious St. Anne’s residential school square off against the federal government this week in another round of a convoluted legal battle over document secrecy.

Among other things, the plaintiffs want Ontario’s top court to order a review of all St. Anne’s compensation claims adjudicated before the government disclosed thousands of documents from a 1990s criminal investigation by provincial police.

They also want the court to set aside a decision allowing Canada to keep secret civil-litigation materials – despite an initial ruling to turn them over. The documents were generated during 62 lawsuits related to horrific physical and sexual abuse 154 Indigenous people had suffered at St. Anne’s in Fort Albany, Ont.