Notices to Counsel | Reconsideration Deadline for IAP claims dismissed through the Incomplete File Resolution (IFR) procedure extended
Reconsideration Deadline for IAP claims dismissed through the Incomplete File Resolution (IFR) procedure extended
July 13, 2017
The deadline to request reconsideration for Independent Assessment Process (IAP) claims dismissed through the Incomplete File Resolution (IFR) procedure has been extended to June 1, 2018.
The Incomplete File Resolution (IFR) procedure, approved in 2014, involves adjudicators in the case management process on difficult files. The IFR was designed to ensure that claims keep moving towards a hearing, and gives adjudicators tools to resolve cases that had no reasonable possibility of moving to a hearing.
The IFR includes safeguards at every stage to protect the rights of claimants. It also includes a mechanism to dismiss some claims where progress cannot be made. Over 435 claims have been returned to the regular stream for a hearing or referred to another targeted approach as a result of the IFR.
The reconsideration deadline is the last date by which counsel (or a claimant) can request that the Chief Adjudicator reconsider a decision to dismiss a claim under the Incomplete File Resolution procedure. Section 25 of the IFR procedure requires the IAP Oversight Committee to set a reconsideration deadline that is six months before the last practical date to hold first claimant hearings. Previously, the reconsideration deadline had been set at August 31, 2017.
Following a recent analysis of the remaining caseload in the IAP, it became apparent that a number of claims will be dismissed through an IFR Resolution Direction after the previously established IFR reconsideration deadline (August 1, 2017). As a result, the IAP Oversight has extended the Reconsideration Deadline to June 1, 2018.
The new deadline will allow counsel to apply to the Chief Adjudicator for permission to have their client’s claim heard in the IAP, even if it has already been dismissed under the IFR. The reconsideration deadline is the last date a file could re-enter the regular stream for a hearing while the Secretariat still has the capacity to resolve the claim. The new deadline should give IRSAS staff and adjudicators currently working on IFR claims adequate time to resolve all current and future IFR referrals.
If a claimant that you represent had a claim dismissed through the IFR procedure and you want to request Reconsideration, you must make the request in writing. It must be filed by the reconsideration deadline, and it must be on notice to participating parties. Please see paragraph 25 of the Incomplete File Resolution Procedure for further details. You can also call the toll-free IAP information line at 1-877-635-2648 for additional information on filing a reconsideration request.
Please note that the Secretariat will send a notice about the new reconsideration deadline to all claimants who have received a dismissal notice for whom it has mailing addresses.
The Secretariat can only provide specific file information directly to an IAP Claimant or their authorized representative, including an authorized Administrator or Executor of an IAP claimant’s estate. If you represent the estate of an IAP Claimant, please send legal proof that you are the Administrator or Executor of the estate, along with your current phone number and mailing address to:
Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat
Attention: Estate Claims Coordinator
810 - 1166 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 3Z3
You can also submit this information by fax, to:
(604) 666-7068
Attention: Estate Claims Coordinator