25 Sask. schools left off compensation list, FSIN says

It's unfair that Ottawa has excluded students who attended 25 Saskatchewan residential schools from compensation payments, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says.

The federal government is in the middle of sending cheques to thousands of people in Saskatchewan who once attended federally supervised residential schools.

The so-called "common experience" payments are part of a $2 billion federal program to provide an average of $28,000 to every student who went to the schools.

Many who attended have said in court documents that they suffered abuse or lost their language and culture.

This week, the federal government decided to exclude 25 residential schools from common experience payments.

FSIN Vice-Chief Lyle Whitefish said by denying compensation, Ottawa is revictimizing survivors of the schools.

The list of excluded schools includes large former residential schools in the province's north, including Île-à-la-Crosse and Timber Bay.

The federal government isn't compensating the schools' former studentsbecause the schoolswere run by the province.

The FSIN argues they were given money by the federal government and were still church run.

"Bottom line is that they're still residential schools," Whitefish said. "The children were removed from their homes and away from their families."

According to Whitefish, tribal councils such as the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have started filing appeals to the federal government, with the initial focus on the larger schools.

Monday was the day when Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, the federal department that deals with the legacy of the institutions, said it would deliver its decision about which schools would be added to the original list.

Although there were requests to add 26 schools in Saskatchewan, only one — Crowstand School near Kamsack — made the revised list.