A Prince Albert lawyer gave a presentation at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Centre on Monday on what people should know about the federal government’s proposed Indian day school settlement.
The Trudeau government announced last month that former Indian day school students may be eligible for $10,000 in compensation.
This number could rise to as high as $200,000 depending on the severity of the abuse.
“There may be between 140,000 and 200,000 claimants,” Gordon Kirkby of the Kirky Fourie law firm says. “Claimants are required to get their own supporting documentation without the assistance of lawyers.”
According to Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett, around 200,000 Indigenous children attended Indian day schools beginning in the 1920s.
Kirkby says claimants may be rejected without recourse.
“It appears that the system is designed to reduce the number of claims,” he says “It’s going to leave a lot of people out. This is wrong and this is highly upsetting. This agreement may not cover all the schools that we would consider day schools. There is no support for healing or mental health that comes with this matter.”
Kirkby adds that claimants are being given one year to apply for compensation.
The Prince Albert Grand Council put on the information session.
(PHOTO: Gordon Kirkby speaking at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Centre about the federal government’s proposed Indian day school settlement. Photo by Brendan Mayer.)