2 thoughts on “Survivors “falling through the cracks” of Indian residential schools settlement agreement”
Just before reading this I had a conversation with my sister about our Dad’s settlement, he wrote every memory of abuse and told us his stories, then when it came time to go to court to share his story, he was stuck and kept repeating the same story over and over. What gets to me is that the support person didn’t say a word of encouragement or call a time out to remind him of what was in his statement. He missed out on so much compensation because he is at that age of forgetfulness. I wish there could be something done with this. The survivors deserve this compensation because their education was taken away, how else are some of them supposed to survive? So many of them got ripped off with lawyer fees, one lawyer told my client that she could borrow up to 5,ooo dollars off of him until she got her settlement, so I asked him what the interest would look like because he didn’t mention interest, he told me to mind my own business. I let him know that I am here to support my client and she deserves to know what the interest is because you failed to mention that, he became angry with me. I let my client know that she needs to write everything down in detail with date, times, what was being said to be safe. I let this lawyer know that this is a sensitive issue and that if he spoke to me this way? I can imagine how he treats his Residential school clients behind closed doors. I have made a report against this lawyer and don’t know if he was investigated. This is only one example of what these survivors went through with lawyers. I pray and send good energy that this plan will work out best for those who missed out on the compensation and re-evaluate.
My late Father suffered for 7 agonizing years at 2 residential schools, Elkhorn in Manitoba & in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Sadly, he passed away in 1976, many, many years before a settlement was reached. I wished that the deceased residential school survivors could’ve been included, as the affects trickled down from generation to generation. We are all survivors. I am proud of who my Father came to be after his experience in those awful schools. He went onto become Chief of our reserve, where he served his people for 8 years. His health forced him to resign. Residential school only made him that much more determined to make life better for his people, for his reserve. He was kind, caring, loving & compassionate towards his own people, and his leadership style was one you rarely see. I guess that’s one good thing that happened to him. Ekosi
Just before reading this I had a conversation with my sister about our Dad’s settlement, he wrote every memory of abuse and told us his stories, then when it came time to go to court to share his story, he was stuck and kept repeating the same story over and over. What gets to me is that the support person didn’t say a word of encouragement or call a time out to remind him of what was in his statement. He missed out on so much compensation because he is at that age of forgetfulness. I wish there could be something done with this. The survivors deserve this compensation because their education was taken away, how else are some of them supposed to survive? So many of them got ripped off with lawyer fees, one lawyer told my client that she could borrow up to 5,ooo dollars off of him until she got her settlement, so I asked him what the interest would look like because he didn’t mention interest, he told me to mind my own business. I let him know that I am here to support my client and she deserves to know what the interest is because you failed to mention that, he became angry with me. I let my client know that she needs to write everything down in detail with date, times, what was being said to be safe. I let this lawyer know that this is a sensitive issue and that if he spoke to me this way? I can imagine how he treats his Residential school clients behind closed doors. I have made a report against this lawyer and don’t know if he was investigated. This is only one example of what these survivors went through with lawyers. I pray and send good energy that this plan will work out best for those who missed out on the compensation and re-evaluate.
My late Father suffered for 7 agonizing years at 2 residential schools, Elkhorn in Manitoba & in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Sadly, he passed away in 1976, many, many years before a settlement was reached. I wished that the deceased residential school survivors could’ve been included, as the affects trickled down from generation to generation. We are all survivors. I am proud of who my Father came to be after his experience in those awful schools. He went onto become Chief of our reserve, where he served his people for 8 years. His health forced him to resign. Residential school only made him that much more determined to make life better for his people, for his reserve. He was kind, caring, loving & compassionate towards his own people, and his leadership style was one you rarely see. I guess that’s one good thing that happened to him. Ekosi