CANADA
Net News Ledger
Posted 9 June 2014 by James Murray
THUNDER BAY – NEWS – A June 4 decision by Manitoba Justice Perry Schulman in Fontaine et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) found that so-called form-fillers acted in an “unconscionable” fashion with “unequal bargaining power” while coercing Residential School survivors to sign payment agreements that deprived as many as 1,000 former students the full amount of their claims awarded under the IRS.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) and Grand Council Treaty #3 (GCT#3), two of the largest political organizations representing First Nations in Ontario and Manitoba, are raising awareness among former Indian Residential School (IRS) students as financial arrangements made by legal firms and other agencies for assisting with compensation claims are under investigation.
“Within the Treaty 3 territory we had the highest number of Indian Residential schools in comparison with any other part of Canada and as such for generations our communities, families and individuals have been severely impacted by the abuses and trauma, including misguided nutritional experiments on our relatives that attended these schools. While the Common Experience Payment (CEP) and Independent Assessment Process (IAP) offered an opportunity at recognition and reconciliation for harm to our IRS survivors, it is extremely painful to hear that victimization by ruthless lawyers has been perpetrated against vulnerable people who have had to endure a lifetime of pain and suffering,” said Grand Council Treaty #3 Grand Chief Warren White. “I encourage all IRS claimants who have questions or concerns about the manner in which their file, claim or compensation has been managed to come forward.”
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