Tories Pledge Package For Boarding School Students

Tories Pledge Package For Boarding School Students

Wednesday, December 07, 2005 at 15:25

The incumbent MP in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River says former students of the old boarding school in Ile-a-la-Crosse will be compensated like residential school survivors — if the Conservatives win next month’s election.

Jeremy Harrison says that won’t happen under a Liberal government, according to a letter he has received from Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan.

In the letter, McLellan says the former residents of the boarding school in the northern village won’t qualify for compensation under the federal plan announced a couple of weeks ago.

That’s because the compensation agreement only covers federally-funded Indian residential schools.

Harrison says the Conservatives won’t make that same distinction if they’re elected to power.

Harrison says the Conservatives will give $10,000 to each former resident of a residential school or boarding school for the first year of attendance — whether the person is First Nations or Metis — plus $3,000 for each additional year the student attended.