Federal day school survivors may now apply for compensation

If you attended a Government of Canada day school for Indigenous people, you can now apply for compensation under the $1.3-billion Federal Indian Day Schools Settlement Agreement, the federal government said on Jan. 13.

The claims process opened on Monday, Jan. 13, and will remain open for the next two and a half years.

In Nunavut, those who attended any one of 27 federal day schools that operated from the late 1940s to about 1970 are eligible for compensation.

And in Nunavik, those who attended any one of 11 federal day schools in what was then called Arctic Quebec prior to 1978 are also eligible.

In the eastern Arctic, many Inuit were not eligible for the 2007 residential school settlement agreement—because they attended federal day schools instead.

In this agreement, all eligible federal day school survivors will get a minimum of $10,000 in compensation.

“This settlement is based on the premise that those who were sent to Federal Indian Day Schools were harmed,” said a federal government news release issued Jan. 13.

In addition to that $10,000 payment, those who were physically or sexually abused may receive amounts ranging from $50,000 to $200,000, depending on the severity of the abuse.

“This is an important step towards healing and justice for day school survivors and their families,” Carolyn Bennett, the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, said in a statement issued on Jan. 13.

The lawsuit is also called the Mclean Class Action for Federal Day Schools, after the late Garry Leslie McLean, a federal day school survivor who launched the original statement of claim.

Gowling WLG, the lawyers representing the federal government and day school survivors, completed the $1.3-billion deal in March 2019 and the Federal Court of Canada approved it this past August 19.

On Jan. 13, Deloitte, the court-appointed third-party firm handling the settlement fund, opened up the application process for claims by survivors.

This means that day school survivors may now fill out a claims form and send it to the claims administrator.

How to apply

You can get a claims form by downloading one from this link, or by calling 1-888-221-2898.

Completed forms can be sent to the claims administrator via email, fax or mail.

They can be sent to the following addresses:

Mail: Indian Day Schools Class Action Claims Administrator, c/o Deloitte, PO Box 1775, Toronto ON, M5C 0A2

Email: indiandayschools@deloitte.ca.

Fax: 1-416-366-1102.

The agreement provides other benefits:

• $200 million for the McLean Day Schools Settlement Corporation for legacy projects to support healing, wellness, education, language, culture and commemoration.

• $55 million for legal fees.

• $7 million for lawyers to support additional legal work on behalf of class members at no cost to the class members.

• Money to pay the administrative costs incurred by the court-appointed, third-party claims administrator, Deloitte, who will implement the agreement.

The federal government says the settlement agreement provides compensation for all persons who attended an Indian Day School that was established, funded, controlled and managed by the Government of Canada from Jan. 1, 1920, until its date of closure or transfer from Canada’s control, and who suffered harm as a consequence of their attendance.

You may be eligible even if you also attended a residential school. If you attended a federal Indian day school at some point, you can apply for compensation under the settlement.

As of this month, 699 federal day schools have been identified as eligible under the agreement.

For free legal advice or help with the claim form, you can contact the class lawyers at Gowling WLG at 1-844-539-3815, or dayschools@gowlingwlg.com, or visit their website at www.indiandayschools.com.

If you are experiencing emotional distress and want to talk, counselling and services are available from the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310, or online at www.hopeforwellness.ca.

You can find a full list of schools embedded below. The list of Arctic Quebec schools starts on page 5 and the list of eligible Nunavut schools starts on page 27.

List of eligible federal In... by NunatsiaqNews on Scribd