Matthew Coon Come, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a former grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, is among those who say the day-school agreement needs to be changed.Some Indigenous groups say an agreement that proposes to compensate former students of Indian day schools is seriously flawed and will not provide the emotional or legal help required by those who were abused at the institutions as they file their claims.
Unlike the agreement struck more than a decade ago with the survivors of residential schools, there is no money to pay the fees of lawyers hired by individual claimants. The government will instead pay $55-million in fees to Gowling WLG of Ottawa for all of the legal work and will make an additional $7-million available, as required, to assist class members.
Matthew Coon Come, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a former grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, is among those who say the day-school agreement needs to be changed. They point out that, unless someone who was abused at a day school opts out of the class action within 60 days after the court approves the settlement, they will forever give up their ability to individually sue the government for the harms they suffered.
And, most importantly, they say, there will be limited legal and emotional support for former students as they file claims.