CANADA
APTN
04. JUL, 2014
By Kathleen Martens
APTN Investigates
WINNIPEG – Priests, nuns and oblates have lost a small court battle related to residential school documents.
More than 30 Catholic organizations across Canada tried to stop the new National Research Centre (NRC) from participating in a hearing on the future of survivor testimony.
But Justice Paul Perell of the Ontario Superior Court decided otherwise. On June 14th, he granted intervenor status to the centre which will be located at the University of Manitoba.
Groups including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Indian Residential School Adjudication Secretariat are at odds over whether to archive or destroy documents collected through the Independent Assessment Process (IAP). So Perell will hear arguments from the centre and other groups seeking his direction on what to do with the documents. The hearing will happen July 14-16 in Toronto.
The IAP is a confidential, legal process where former students disclose the abuse they suffered to be eligible for financial compensation. It was created to help resolve claims of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse and other wrongful acts perpetrated by school staff and students.
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