IQALUIT
As the independent assessment process (IAP) of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement advances - and former residential school students leave hearings with decisions in hand - some are wondering why it's taking what seems like a long time to receive their cheques.

Lawyer Stephen Cooper represents about 2,500 former students in Nunavut and elsewhere, and has been involved with the settlement agreement since negotiations began 10 years ago.

The independent assessment process is the portion of the settlement available to former students who were abused, physically and sexually, in residential schools.

"Cheques are not late," said Stephen Cooper, a lawyer who represents about 2,500 former students in Nunavut and elsewhere, and has been involved with the settlement agreement since negotiations began 10 years ago.

Cooper said that hearings are not the final step in the decision-making process, although a decision may be reached at that time.

"There's a whole post-hearing process, even when a hearing is completed," said Cooper.

There are two types of decisions, the short form and the long form. A short-form decision has no issues, no new information about a person of interest - meaning an abuser - no assessments are needed and there are no legal issues.

"The decision is signed off right then and there. That document then goes to Regina, which is the main (Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat) office. They technically have to approve it. They make sure the math is right, they make sure the parties' names are right, etc."

The lawyer then receives the approved decision, after which there is a 30-day appeal period.

"You can't get around that. Even when things go really quickly, there's two months before anybody gets anything," said Cooper.

"At the end of the 30 days, if there's no appeal, then and only then does the cheque-writing process begin - and it's the government. That's anywhere from one to two months before we see the cheque. Once we see it - I can't speak for other lawyers - it's processed usually the same day. If not, then the next business day."

A long-form decision could involve a dispute, missing information, or an assessment.

"Sometimes there is new information about a person of interest, the abuser, that comes up at the hearing, that wasn't available previously. Under the model, the person of interest has to be researched and, if they are alive, they have to be given notice of the claims against them."

Some clients also need their claims to be assessed before final submissions. For example, there were many claims involving perforated eardrums due to severe beatings.

"Assessments will generally take six months. It might have to be sent out to an ear, nose and throat specialist, which is fairly common because of the number of perforated eardrums. There's a very limited number of (specialists) that are approved by a national committee as being completely objective."

Cooper says once everything is finalized, no matter how a client gets there, by short-form decision or long-form decision, the absolute minimum to wait for a cheque is two months, although it's usually three or four months.

"It does seem like a long time to clients. They do get angry at us because we're the only people at the doorstep," said Cooper.

"But every single one of them goes far, far faster than if you were going into court."

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