Case Conference, Feb. 7, 2017

Hi Everyone:

Last week's case conference at Osgoode Hall in Toronto was an eye-opener again to just how insidious the Canadian government continues to be when it comes to being 'just' toward residential school Survivors.

What came to light is that the Canadian government has more, more, more documents that were not brought into the Independent Assessment Process but could have been. These are testimonials from Survivors who were brave enough to write down their stories in the early to mid-1990s....over 700 testimonials that would - without question - corroborate the 'stories' of Survivors who are engaged in compensatory hearings at the Independent Assessment Process. These testimonies from the Survivors are said to be damning with respect to treatment of the children at this school that was a house a horrors for so many. Had these documents been willingly submitted in 2007 by a government committed - TRULY  committed - to Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, then St. Anne's Survivors' claims would likely not have been denied and Survivors would have been under-compensated for the abuses they endured over a number of years.

In short, even under the 'leadership' of prime minister Justin Trudeau, these behaviours by the Department of 'Justice' equate to obstruction of justice. There can be no reconciliation with a government that continues to hide what went on at the residential schools.  If Prime Minister Trudeau is to hold true to his word about actively reconciling the Canadian government with indigenous issues in Canada, then he had better address this obstruction of justice sooner rather than later. The Survivors deserve this deep level of respect.

ALL DOCUMENTS - including ALL medical records - should have been brought into the IAP. These too, are buried it seems. How do we hold the Canadian government to account? Enough is enough!

Sue