Lawyers for Residential School Survivors agree to compensation agreement

25 April 2006

A national group of lawyers representing more than 7,000 Canadian Aboriginal clients in class actions against the federal government said today it has agreed to sign the final settlement agreement under which the Crown will pay fair and just compensation to all survivors of Canada's infamous residential school system.

The accord was reached after five months of negotiations based on an Agreement in Principle. At the table were counsel for Canada, lawyers for residential school survivor clients, the Assembly of First Nations and the church denominations that operated the schools across Canada for more than 100 years.

The agreement is subject to the agreement of all the other parties and subsequent approval of provincial Superior Courts across Canada.

"Our thoughts are with the residential school survivors, most of whom are elderly and many are infirm. This is their agreement and the settlement of their claim for justice," National Consortium of Residential School Survivors' Counsel's co-spokesman Jon Faulds, of Field Law in Edmonton said.

"We look forward to submitting the agreement to the courts for their approval so that survivors can begin to receive the compensation they so justly deserve," Mr. Faulds added.

"This historic legal, political and moral document is the product of a complex and arduous process, and all the parties are to be commended for finding common ground," said Consortium co-spokesman Craig Brown, of Thomson, Rogers in Toronto.

The settlement agreement provides for a common experience payment for all former school attendees who were alive on May 30, 2005, on a sliding scale depending on how long they were in the schools. The deal also establishes an out-of-court process for victims seeking compensation for more serious abuse.

The process to reach a settlement followed more than 10 years of litigation, and included hearings before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development last year, then six months of talks to reach the Agreement in Principle and another five months to complete the final settlement agreement.

"Lawyers in the National Consortium have worked on behalf of survivors for more than 10 years to ensure that every person alive who attended a residential school receives benefits. When approved this agreement will achieve that goal," said Mr. Brown.

"Until now our clients were facing years of litigation in the courts. Many of them would not have lived to see the outcome and would have died without compensation and without the opportunity for acknowledgement, healing, reconciliation and commemoration," Mr. Faulds stated.

The National Consortium of Residential School Survivors' Counsel is a group of 19 law firms from across Canada. The Consortium represents in excess of 7,000 residential school survivors and supports the Baxter National Class Action proceeding commenced by Thomson, Rogers on behalf of all residential school survivors throughout Canada.

The Government of Canada and churches including the Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and United Church operated residential schools in Canada from 1848 until the 1970s. Some schools operated longer. Their objectives included separating aboriginal children from their traditional languages and cultures and their assimilation into non-aboriginal society.

For further information: Jon Faulds, Field Law, (780) 423-7625 or (780) 951-5495; Craig Brown, Thomson, Rogers, (416) 868-3163

Source: newswire

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