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Bevington calls for apology for residential school abuses

Jason Unrau
Northern News Services
Monday, April 02, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Since it's not stipulated in the residential schools settlement, don't expect an apology from the federal government any time soon, according to Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.

"There is a comprehensive agreement that was arrived at," said Prentice during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday. "(The settlement) deals in specifics with the truth and reconciliation commission, with advanced payments, with all of the matters that have been negotiated. An apology did not form part of the contractual provisions at that time... and we will implement the agreement as it has been negotiated."

He was responding to the NDP critic for Aboriginal Affairs, Jean Crowder, who had asked Prentice why Conservatives refused to offer a formal apology for the Canadian government's role in forcing aboriginal children to attend residential schools, in addition to the estimated $1.9 billion compensation package.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington insisted an apology from the Prime Minister was "imperative to the healing process of those victimized."

"This Conservative government's refusal to offer an apology is unacceptable," said Bevington. "And Minister Prentice's answers to my colleague's question in the house today was bureaucratic and mean-spirited."

At its peak in the early 1930s, the residential school system was a state-sponsored, church-run network of 80 schools with an enrollment of more than 17,000.

Earlier this year NWT Chief Justice Ted Richard called the residential schools "a tragic and shameful chapter in the history of our country's relationship with its aboriginal peoples," in a court document explaining his reasons for approving the settlement.

The package itself - a massive class-action settlement - involves payments of $10,000 for the first year spent at residential school and $3,000 for each year thereafter. It is estimated that average payments will be about $23,000 per person.

As well, former students who suffered sexual or physical abuse can apply for further compensation up to $275,000 for proven harm from abuse and up to $250,000 for proven loss of income due to the harm received at the schools.