Statement made on 02 June 2009 by Senator Willie Adams (retired)
Senator Adams:
Thank you for coming to this chamber. I am sure you have heard many questions. I have a few questions concerning the residential schools issue. Have there been any studies or surveys of past residential school students? How many people are alive? How many people are deceased?
I have another question about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with respect to the apology and the agreement they reached. Have you looked into this? Where is it at? Is that the end of the apology?
Many Inuit wanted compensation for the hardships they suffered. The judge who was the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission resigned and the others resigned shortly after. Maybe that is the reason why the work of the commission is not happening. There is no commission to speak of currently. We had hoped that when the commission was struck and announcements were made that we were moving forward to deal with residential school damages.
Ms. Simon: Thank you, Senator Adams.
I agree with you. It is important for those things that are supposed to be constructive and restorative to Aboriginal Peoples move forward. Having you and Senator Watt working in the parliamentary system is very important to us Inuit. Your full-time participation here is very valuable and worthwhile to help Inuit.
Regarding the residential school students, there were many complaints that most former students did not get the full payments when people received compensation. This was because of certain schools they attended, and in some cases, which organization funded the schools. In other cases, it was due to poor recordkeeping. This is especially true for older people who were not paid for all the years that they were absent from their homes living in residential schools.
The payment and compensation method was not satisfactory to many people because of the poor quality and loss of records or simply that no recordkeeping system existed at the time for the earlier residential schools. We are still hearing those complaints.
When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission starts looking at the healing process, I believe that the compensation process will come up as it did not satisfy all former residential school students for the years they attended residential schools away from home.