Ottawa's proposed review of St. Anne's residential school claims is inadequate, judge rules
CBC News | Posted: April 20, 2021 7:14 PM | Last Updated: April 20, 2021
Canadian government won't participate in the St. Anne's review, but is expected to pay all costs
An Ontario Superior Court Justice ruled Tuesday there will be an independent review of some St. Anne's residential school survivor claims — but with some changes.
Justice Paul Perell said Ottawa's review proposal is inadequate.
Perell is appointing Judge Ian Pitfield to continue as an independent special adviser to conduct the review, with help from an advocate for all St. Anne's claimants.
Perell also said the Canadian government won't participate in the St. Anne's review, and is expected to pay all costs for the proceedings.
The school, located in Fort Albany in northeastern Ontario, operated from 1902 to 1976.
Last month, Ottawa requested an independent review of thousands of documents detailing sexual and physical abuse of Indigenous children at St. Anne's residential school.
In the 1990s, the Ontario Provincial Police investigated claims of abuse at the school, which led to charges and some convictions of former staff. Documents from the investigation, however, were not made available to former students seeking compensation from Ottawa.
In 2014, the Ontario Supreme Court ruled the federal government had a duty to hand over the records.
Since then, St. Anne's survivors have been fighting to reopen compensation cases that were settled before those documents were released.
Survivors of St. Anne's rejected Canada's offer of an independent review of their abuse claims.
Leo Ashamock is a board member with Peetabeck Keway Keykaywin Association Board, which means Fort Albany Back to Healing.
He told CBC News the group rejected the offer because it will focus on just a few survivors and will minimize the voices of the rest of the group.
He said the review could be seen as interference from Canada in their legal fight in seeking justice, and the process would exclude potentially hundreds of survivors from telling their full stories with backing from OPP records the government has been ordered to release.