Iqaluit (Jul 03/06) - Former Nunavut residential school students will have their chance to weigh-in on a $1.9 billion settlement offer from the federal government this fall in an Iqaluit courtroom.

The Nunavut Court of Justice announced on June 22 it would hold public hearings into the deal Oct. 10-11 - part of a nationwide judicial review.

While the deal was announced publicly 14 months ago, it is technically part of a massive class action lawsuit and still needs approval from judges in nine provinces and territories.

Former students can give their two cents during the hearings or by writing and phoning the courts office. Ultimately, judges will decide whether the deal will go through.

The settlement offer came after years of talks between Ottawa, Inuit and First Nations. It includes a lump-sum payout of $10,000 for each former student plus $3,000 for every year they attended the schools.

The head of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Paul Kaludjak, said the Inuit organization was helping people through the process.

"We're going to try to make sure that every Inuit who went to residential school doesn't miss out."

The federal government estimates there are 80,000 former students alive today. Nunavut was home to 13 recognized schools, including ones in Chesterfield Inlet, Baker Lake and Arviat. Many Inuit were also sent to institutions in the Northwest Territories and the south.

The Northern schools were run principally by the federal government and the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. They were infamous for their sometimes brutal treatment of students and repression of traditional Inuit and First Nations cultures.

If the deal gains approval from all nine courts, former students should begin pocketing payments around March 2007, according to the Assembly of First Nations. Some elders have already received an $8,000 advance.

More information can be found on the courts' website at www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca or by calling 1-866-879-4913.

- With files from Chris Windeyer.