Canada’s highest court has rejected an appeal by survivors of a Catholic residential school near Fort Albany, Ont., in an ongoing dispute with the federal government over the impact of withheld documents on compensation claims. The Supreme Court did not give reasons Thursday morning in its decision not to hear from the group of St. Anne survivors, unidentified in court documents but represented by author and former chief Edmund Metatawabin, who were trying to reopen their cases . They argued there were “procedural and jurisdictional gaps” in the lower courts’ handling of the case — which unfolded in the context of the residential school class action settlement — and asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a March 1 filing. Evelyn Korkmaz, a St. Anne survivor from Fort Albany, had mixed feelings the day before the verdict: a sense of optimism tempered by a lack of faith in the Canadian justice system. “It’s going to be a big day,” Korkmaz said. “Let’s hope they will have the courage to stand up for reconciliation and prove to us that they will stand by us and defend our rights.” Evelyn Korkmaz, a survivor of St. Anne’s residential school in Fort Albany, Ont., says survivors will seek other avenues if the Supreme Court doesn’t hear their appeal. (Brian Morris/CBC) Regardless of the decision, the survivors have no plans to stop fighting, Korkmaz said. “The survivors of St. Anne are resilient. We have fought for years and we will continue to fight,” he said, suggesting they would take the campaign international if the court refuses to hear the case. “If they decide not to allow us to appeal, we will have to pursue other avenues.” Korkmaz expressed disappointment after the dismissal. “I can’t see any other reason why Canada doesn’t think this is important enough to be heard. The justice system is not working for aboriginal people in Canada,” he said. “Justice only exists in the dictionary. It does not exist in Canada’s judicial system.” Timmins-James Bay NDP MP Charlie Angus, a longtime supporter, announced the filing in a press release in July, calling the move “a damning indictment of the Liberals’ record of reconciliation.” The Liberal government, in competing submissions, urged the court not to intervene. Speaking outside the House of Commons on Wednesday, Angus said the decision would be “a really important moment” not just for survivors, but for reconciliation in general. “All talk of reconciliation goes out the door when you get to the case of St. Anne,” he said. “This is a serious, serious issue for this government and for the principle of justice in Canada.” He also expressed his disappointment in a statement released Thursday morning. “It is a sad day for justice in Canada that the Supreme Court has chosen to trust the Government of Canada’s word for survivors,” the statement said.
The government withheld OPP records
The Supreme Court hears only a small part of the appeals brought to it. Last year, the bench accepted eight per cent of applications seeking leave to appeal, according to court statistics. The litigation dates back to 2007, when the residential school reimbursement process began. The settlement agreement included a fixed payment for survivors and a claims adjudication mechanism, known as the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), for those who suffered extreme cases of abuse. The agreement required Canada to turn over relevant documents to accurately adjudicate the IAP’s claims, but the government withheld thousands of pages of provincial police records stemming from a mid-1990s investigation into abuse at St. Anne’s. The judge who administered the settlement “assumed that this was done by mistake” rather than deliberate deception, but the withholding of the documents left some plaintiffs questioning whether they had suffered another injustice. The survivors don’t want the documents, which a judge ordered years ago, turned over, but they want their compensation claims reassessed — this time with those records. A group of altar boys at the residential school St. Anne’s about 1945 in Fort Albany, Ont. (Edmund Metatawabin Collection/Algoma University) Survivors of St. Anne’s have told stories of harrowing sexual, physical and psychological abuse, including punishment via a homemade electric chair and forcing sick students to eat their own vomit. The police investigation resulted in convictions of four former school employees and an Indian Affairs officer on charges including indecent assault, assault causing bodily harm, assault and administering a harmful substance. The group’s push for a retrial of the claims eventually got Ottawa to reconsider. Claiming that St. Anne’s advocates such as Angus and Murray Sinclair were undermining confidence in the settlement agreement, Crown-Indigenous Relations used retired judge Ian Pitfield to determine whether the lack of disclosure affected St. Anne’s IAP claims. Anne. Pitfield concluded that Canada must review 11 specific cases involving allegations of student-to-student abuse. The government promised to do so. In their submission to the Supreme Court, the survivors challenged the Pitfield report, claiming it was issued without consulting the claimants themselves and without rehearing by trained judges. Support is available for anyone affected by their residential school experience or recent reports. A national residential school crisis line has been set up in India to provide support to survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419. Mental health counseling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
