Sad article by Linda Diebel in today’s Toronto Star
At parliamentary committee hearings in early 2009 — before the current commission was established — NDP MP Jean Crowder, from B.C., listened to the official Indian Affairs ministry count that 97,000 survivors claimed compensation, with 72,000 approved (average payment, $20,500), but that 20,000 had been found ineligible, and had the right to appeal.
Crowder raised the issue of survivors who were rejected “for seemingly minor reasons . . . We’ve had some people say that they couldn’t remember the name of the teacher who abused them when they were six years old, and that was the reason their claim as rejected. They’re now in their late 60s and 70s. It’s not unreasonable, I think, that they could not remember . . . .”
She demanded to know what research was being done to help these people. An official said it was very thorough but that she had to remember, “with all due respect, the people who go to these hearings are very often, as I’ve mentioned already, in a fragile mental state.”
“Well,” retorted Crowder, “they’re traumatized, and then they’re traumatized all over again.”
Unfortunate parallels with history haunt. Between 1927 and 1951, Canada enforced legislation under the Indian Act making it illegal for aboriginal people to hire lawyers to represent them in any activity related to land claims.
Under the settlement appeals process, survivors can hire lawyers, but it’s designed so that anything over 15 per cent going to the lawyer is sent for adjudication. Sounds good on the surface, according to a lawyer busy with aboriginal cases, because most work can be done for 15 percent.
He describes one case in Quebec, however, in which he spent huge amounts of time and got a particularly good settlement. He charged 30 per cent. He does a lot of pro bono work already, and with expenses, can’t afford to offer it to appeals. His client supported him and he’s waiting for a decision. But the official who questioned him taunted: “Looks like you gave him Cadillac service.”
So, he asks, are Indians entitled to only second-class service?
Make sure you read the entire article.
