Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP, Carol Hughes writes a regular column about initiatives and issues impacting our community.
Much like the residential school program, the Federal government was responsible for atrocious human rights abuses at the hands of their Indian day school system. It was a system that mirrored the residential school system, forcing an estimated 200,000 First Nations. Inuit, and Métis children to endure horrific abuse at some 700-day schools across the country. The survivors of these schools were completely shut out of the $1.9-billion Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement and have been fighting for proper recognition and compensation for their treatment on a completely separate front, with voices growing louder to reopen the application process.
Many of those individuals who have been involved with the day school settlement program have been angered by the process. One of the survivors, Jessie Waldron, who attended the Waterhen Lake Indian Day School in 60s and 70s, is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene to allow her to amend her compensation claim because of additional evidence of abuse she endured at the school. Ms. Waldron and others are arguing that the process to apply for compensation is complicated, leaving survivors without the ability to amend their compensation claims, if necessary.
Ms. Waldron has previously attempted to have both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal allow her to amend her compensation claim, but lost both cases, which is why she is now appealing to the Supreme Court. In a recent CBC interview, she stated that she was overwhelmed by the claims process, which resulted in her receiving the lowest level of compensation possible. Compensation from the Federal Indian Day School Class Action Settlement Agreement process is based on the degrees of abuse they received. Those applicants are asked detailed, personal questions about the trauma they endured in day schools. In Ms. Waldron’s case, she states in the CBC piece that she couldn’t reach anyone through the legal hotline to assist with her application and that she also drove 10 hours from her home in Grand Prairie, Alberta to Waterhen Lake, Saskatchewan for assistance on her application, but arrived at a cancelled meeting. She states that she was unable to receive assistance from either Deloitte (the claims administrator) or Gowling WLG (the law firm representing survivors in the class action lawsuit against the Federal government) for help in her application process. Eventually, she ended up settling for the lowest level of compensation possible.
As noted, there are varying levels available for compensation. 150,200 claims have been paid out so far, out of approximately 185,000 applicants. Of those 185,000 applicants, approximately 130,000 applied for compensation at the first level. Approximately 54,000 applied for compensation between levels two and five combined, according to numbers from Deloitte from early February. The issue that remains is that, for many individuals who had filed for compensation, they simply want to refile their claims to ensure that their settlements reflect the nature of their trauma and abuse, and the compensation process does not allow that, even in instances where applicants were not able to reach legal council, which was their right.
One of the key problems with this process is that it's not like filing an insurance claim, yet it seems to be treated as such. The process requires recounting a history of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, which can be a challenging process to come to grips with. Claimants need more time, more assistance, and more support to file these claims. The process wasn’t clear to many of the survivors and it is obvious that they had difficulty accessing legal council to assist them in filing their claims.
Those reasons alone should be enough to reopen the process and let claimants resubmit their paperwork if necessary. Both the former and current Justice Ministers have stated that the process is imperfect. That’s reason enough to give survivors the time, information, and help they need to make sure they are compensated for any abuse they suffered within the day schools.