Aboriginal Residential School Day Scholars Abuse Class Action Lawsuit Settlement – Other Lawsuits Filed
Two Indian Bands, namely the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and the Sechelt, have filed a claim in Federal Court. This claim is that aboriginals have not been given compensation in the Aboriginal Residential School Day Scholars Abuse Class Action Lawsuit Settlement because they lived at home. In the settlement that was reached in 2006, residential school students were given compensation. This was two years before the apology in Parliament by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. However, the aboriginal groups were not included in this settlement.
Those who filed a claim in the Aboriginal Residential School Day Scholars Abuse Class Action Lawsuit Settlement received automatic payments to all those who lived at the residential schools. The day scholars were not included in this group because they attended the school during the day but went home at night. As a consequence, these day scholars were not eligible to get the payments. The payments were actually $10,000 for the first year and $3,000 for each year after the first year. Compensation was also sought for the cultural and psychological damage caused by the schools.
Apparently many of the aboriginal people of Canada were not included in the agreement because they did not live at the residential schools. They also suffered the cultural, linguistic and social damage. Apparently the payments are also for any abuse suffered at the school and the aboriginal people who excluded from them. Each person who suffered abuse will be examined on a case by case basis.
Aboriginal groups have asked for a long time to get the same payments as compensation for the time that they spent at the residential schools. However Ottawa refused to pay them anything. The government felt that the aboriginals did not suffer the same way as those who lived at the schools. It does not matter if they were day scholars or if they lived there. The students suffered the same amount of abuses and deep trauma. So they should not be excluded based on that alone.
The current lawsuit is for day scholars at two residential schools which are the Kamloops Indian Residential School and the Sechelt Indian Residential School. There are bout 300 day scholars at the two schools. However, this lawsuit will eventually expand to include everyone who is eligible in Canada. Some First Nation groups in certain provinces have already shown that are interested in taking part. These provinces are Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Many day scholars in other regions have shown that they are interested in joining with the First Nations.
There is also another group that was not given any kind of compensation in the Aboriginal Residential School Day Scholars Abuse Class Action Lawsuit Settlement . This group filed a class action lawsuit in 2009. These were for those students who went to day school and not residential schools. Even though these were students who did not live at the schools, they still suffered abuse. They therefore can make claims for abuse.
Ninety percent of the about 80,000 payments have been made. The residential schools were created in the 1870s. These residential schools which were created by the federal government were then given to the different churches. The aboriginal children who were put in these schools were then severely punished for speaking their languages. There was physical abuse that was very damaging to the children. These residential schools then were closed. The last one was closed in 1996.
The Canadian Prime Minister has since apologized for the presence of these schools and for the abuse suffered at these schools in 2008. Apparently the reason for these schools was to make sure the children did not speak their native language or act in any manner reflective of their culture. This is a sad state of affairs and it went on for far too long. Not providing compensation to them, is like adding insult to injury. There is no reason why those who attended these schools and were abused should not get the same compensation as those who actually stayed at the schools. After all, they also suffered the same kinds of abuse during the time that they were at the school. So they should get the same compensation. Keep looking out for more information on the lawsuits.
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