Hearing on $875M Sixties Scoop compensation plan begins today in Saskatoon

Opponents and supporters of a proposed $875-million settlement for Sixties Scoop survivors will make their cases to a federal court judge in Saskatoon Thursday.

As of Tuesday, more than 150 people had filed opinions with the Federal Court of Canada in advance of the hearings. Dozens of lawyers, government officials and survivors themselves are expected to speak.

The crowd is expected to be so large, the hearing has been moved from the courthouse a pair of large ballrooms in a downtown Saskatoon hotel.

Survivors in other Canadian cities can also speak via video link.

The hearing is expected to run all day Thursday and Friday.

An estimated 20,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed with non-Indigenous parents from the 1960s to the 1980s, in what became known as the Sixties Scoop.

They lost their family connections, culture and in some cases suffered physical and sexual abuse.

The federal government announced the agreement in principle with survivors last October, following years of fractious legal action.

Mixed reaction to $875M deal

Under the deal negotiated last year, $750 million would go to survivors and their families, $50 million would go to a Sixties Scoop healing fund and $75 million would go to lawyers who represented the survivors.

Supporters of the deal say it will bring much-needed closure for survivors and their families.

Critics say ​Métis people — not just First Nations — should have been included in the proposed compensation agreement.

Others say the maximum compensation of $50,000 per survivor is not nearly enough.