Sarah Mills: The magic of the May Long Weekend
Sarah Mills is looking forward to the May Long Weekend, and says the holiday holds the promise of the summer ahead, even...
ÎLE-À-LA-CROSSE — Survivors of a boarding school that housed Métis and First Nations children in Saskatchewan say they’ve reached an agreement in principle with the Canadian government.
The Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School steering committee says the settlement would see up to $27 million paid to survivors.
Read more:
- Métis Nation-Sask. sees Supreme Court ruling as monumental win
- Métis groups will trudge on toward self-government as bill faces another setback
- Métis housing corporation to develop low-income units on civic centre site
It would also see a fund of $10 million set up for projects that address healing, education, language and culture.
The committee filed a lawsuit against Ottawa and the Saskatchewan government in 2022 for the roles they played in operating the school and for allegedly breaching legal duties to care for the children.
Survivors say they suffered abuse while attending the school, which operated for more than 100 years until it burned down in the 1970s.
Michelle LeClair, vice president of the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan, said in 2023 that Métis children were taken from their homes in Île-à-la-Crosse and surrounding communities and enrolled in residential and day schools run by the Catholic Church.
“They were children,” LeClair said.
She said there have been six or seven generations harmed by the school, the effects of which she said can be seen in both addictions issues and the gradual losses of language and culture in the region.
Survivors of the residential school recalled horrid living conditions, mistreatment at the hands of staff, and feeling dehumanized for their culture while recalling the ways it was stripped from them.
The committee says it’s working on drafting a final agreement and that claims of physical or sexual abuse aren’t included in the agreement.
— with files from Libby Gray, 650 CKOM
Read more:
