The Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) has launched legal action against the Federal Government.
SNEC along with class action member Audrey Hill have taken action to have an unrealistic deadline extended for Indian Day School Survivors who are seeking compensation for an agreement that was established in 2019. The SNEC and Ms. Hill are asserting that the timeline, notification and support is unrealistically short for those seeking compensation. In addition, they say the process which has taken place almost entirely during the COVID pandemic is culturally insensitive and retraumatizing.
Council and Ms. Hill have filed a Notice of Motion to give class members a true opportunity to seek compensation, arguing The Agreement’s deadline should be extended to December 31, 2025.
In a press release dated December 21,2022, Chief Mark Hill says, “many IDS survivors continue to suffer from intergenerational trauma as a result of the abuse experienced in these schools. The class action settlement has favoured speed and cost efficiency over providing the trauma-informed and culturally appropriate assistance that our people needed.”
In addition, Chief Hill says, “we support other IDS actions and are watching closely to see the outcomes. It is disheartening that we now must file another motion with the courts to move towards reconciliation.”
Audrey Hill is quoted as saying: “To this day, a significant number of class members have not yet made a claim because of limited claims assistance, a lack of cultural sensitivity and unfair timelines,”
Ms. Hill also says: Since the pandemic began, approximately only 28 community sessions have been held in 26 of the approximately 700 affected communities.”
In 2019 a settlement agreement was established to compensate class members. With a claims period set at two and a half years, compared to the five years set for the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.
The claims period began on January 13, 2020, but quickly sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Moses has more in the full report below.