RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS BY ANOTHER NAME
Proposed settlement for ‘Indian hospitals’ about more than financial compensation: lawyer
The federal government announced a proposed settlement worth more than a billion dollars for former patients of what were once called Indian hospitals on Thursday but a lawyer involved in the process says it is about much more than money.
“It’s the apology that is the most important part of any of these settlements,” Steven Cooper, a lawyer with Alberta-based Cooper Regal which is one of the firms representing former patients, told Nation to Nation. “I’ve sat in with survivors, residential school survivors and other survivors with nobody in the room knowing whether they were eligible for anything.
“And yet the sense of relief, outflow of emotion, the crying, the hugging – that’s really what it’s all about. People believe us, we can tell our story now.”
Indigenous patients at these institutions were forced to undergo sexual abuse, forced confinement and substandard healthcare.
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Canada signs multi-billion deal with survivors of ‘Indian hospitals’
If certified by a federal court, claimants will be eligible for compensation anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000 depending on level of abuse suffered.
There is also $150 million for a healing fund, $235.5 million for a research and commemoration fund and Indigenous Services Canada is also putting forward $150 million for mental health supports.
The hospitals operated from 1936 to 1981.
Cooper said because compensation is not capped it should be able to flow more quickly once claimants are approved.
Indigenous issues being ignored by Liberals
Toronto Metropolitan University professor Pam Palmater says many important Indigenous issues are being ignored in the Liberal leadership campaign as U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to Canada are taking up most of the oxygen.
“All of them (leadership candidates) are so distracted by this tariff war and it’s huge, it’s an issue and we need to deal with it,” she said. “It’s going to affect jobs and lives. However, it can’t be at the expense of our ongoing reconciliation efforts. They (Liberal government) still have so much to do.”
Palmater said the federal government still has a number of outstanding Indigenous issues to deal with including long-term reform in First Nations child welfare, ensuring all Indigenous communities have access to safe drinking water and fulfilling commitments on land and treaty rights.
A northern Ontario NDP MP says the federal government is missing a golden opportunity by failing to include Indigenous people in its fight against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“I have been speaking to many Indigenous leaders that I know who understand the threat,” Charlie Angus said. “Because it’s a threat not just to the nation but the nation of course is on Indigenous land and Indigenous rights have to be first and foremost protected.”
Angus is part of an organization called Pledge for Canada which is calling for a boycott of American goods as part of a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff and annexation threats.
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