Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Baby steps
On Monday, the federal government appointed former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to explore how lump-sum compensation should be paid to former students who were forced to attend the schools throughout much of the 20th century. Now, Regina lawyer Tony Merchant is speaking out against the federal government's decision to pay based on how many years people attended the schools won't help those who suffered the most abuse, because many of them ran away before graduating.
It should be noted that Merchant's firm has handled thousands of Indian residential school lawsuits (sounds like self interest to me) and routinely criticizes Ottawa's moves to resolve the outstanding claims. Ironically, Tony is also a big Liberal in Regina.
This case is a black eye for Canadian society. The sooner the federal government addresses it, the sooner society can begin to heal.
It should be noted that Merchant's firm has handled thousands of Indian residential school lawsuits (sounds like self interest to me) and routinely criticizes Ottawa's moves to resolve the outstanding claims. Ironically, Tony is also a big Liberal in Regina.
This case is a black eye for Canadian society. The sooner the federal government addresses it, the sooner society can begin to heal.
# posted by Shaky @ 11:04 a.m. 
