OTTAWA (CANADA)
Agence France-Presse via The Daily Star
October 8, 2017
An estimated 20,000 indigenous children taken from their families starting in the 1960s and placed for adoption or fostering will share in a Can$800 million (US$640 million) payout, the government announced Friday.
The so-called “Sixties Scoop” saw them placed with primarily white middle-class families in Canada, the United States and overseas.
In recent years, as the children grew into adults and became aware of their past, several lawsuits and class actions were filed over their loss of aboriginal identity, claiming in court documents that it resulted in psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, unemployment, violence and suicides.
“People affected by the ’60s Scoop have told us that the loss of their culture and language are among the worst kinds of harm that they suffered,” Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett told a press conference, flanked by Scoop survivors.
“That is why our government is responding directly to remedy the ill-advised (policies) of the past.”
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