Yellowknife (May 08/06) - Northwest Territories Senator Nick Sibbeston urged the Conservatives to accelerate the payment process for former residential school students last week.

"Elderly people are dying every day," Sibbeston said Thursday from Ottawa. "It is important the government recognize what people have gone through."

Sibbeston, a Liberal, raised the issue last week in the Senate - days after the Conservative cabinet signed off on a $1.9 billion compensation package that could end decades of lawsuits, and sometimes acrimonious negotiations.

The deal would see former residential school students receive a $10,000 lump-sum payment, plus $3,000 for each year they attended residential schools. The institutions were renowned for their sometimes harsh treatment of pupils.

The Assembly of First Nations estimates there are 6,000 to 8,000 former students living in the Northwest Territories and more than 85,000 nationwide.

While the Tories committed about $2.2 billion to settling the issue in the most recent federal budget, they have not announced when the money would start flowing from Ottawa.

Sibbeston - who spent 11 years at various residential schools across the NWT - hopes the 8,000 or so elders eligible for advanced pay-outs would receive some money by the fall.

"Time is of the essence," he said in the Senate. "It is important that the government act quickly so there can be some measure of satisfaction, comfort and peace for the elderly people who endured so much."

The deal still needs final approval from the Roman Catholic Church and several courts. Once that happens, the Tories "will immediately consider" the pay-outs said Marjory LeBreton, government leader in the Senate. She was echoing earlier comments from Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Jim Prentice.

Sibbeston will meet with Prentice this week and plans to impress on him the devastating impact that residential schools had on students and aboriginal culture.

"The effects were real. This is not a free ride," said Sibbeston, who still has bouts of depression from his time in residential school.

However, Sibbeston was pleased with the Conservative commitment to honour the deal, a remnant of the former Liberal government.