CANADA
City News
BY SUE BAILEY, THE CANADIAN PRESS
POSTED MAY 9, 2016
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – James Tuttauk will be among hundreds of former residential school students anxiously watching for any sign Tuesday from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Supreme Court of a settlement he says is long overdue.
An update on efforts to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed by plaintiffs alleging abuse and cultural losses is expected in St. John’s, nearly 10 years after litigation began.
“It’s time for the government to be honest and say: ‘Yes, this did happen,’” Tuttauk said from the Inuit community of Hopedale on the Labrador coast. “The money is always good but an apology is a big thing. To be believed, to have the country believe us.
“They ruined our culture, they ruined our language.”
Tuttauk said former residential school students in the province were devastated to be excluded from then-prime minister Stephen Harper’s apology in 2008. A related compensation deal paid more than $4 billion to those who attended what were known as Indian residential schools across the rest of Canada.
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