Canadian government agrees to lump-sum payments in school abuse case

Published: 2005-06-13

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNS) -- The Canadian government has agreed to a First Nations proposal to resolve residential schools' claims with lump-sum payments of at least $13,000 (US$10,000) each to as many as 86,000 students. At the same time, the government announced the appointment of former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci to refine the settlement package and speed up Ottawa's stalled dispute resolution process. First Nations leaders applauded the decision, as did a spokeswoman for Catholic religious communities that once ran many of the schools and are still negotiating their share of a compensation plan. "We're grateful the federal government has reached this accord with First Nations. We can all now move forward to healing and reconciliation," said Providence Sister Gloria Keylor of Edmonton, Alberta. Sister Keylor is spokeswoman for a committee negotiating with the federal government for more than 30 Catholic orders that ran the majority of 130 residential schools maintained by the federal government across Canada between 1870 and 1996.

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