Quebec residential school survivors say communication around settlement could have been better

What lessons were learned from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement?

For George E. Pachano, a Cree residential school survivor from Chisasibi, Que., the communication with former students could have been better.

"The information was available initially, but once they started doing applications, I think people were confused," said Pachano. 

"'What should I do?' 'Should I do this?' They weren't ready."

Pachano and his wife Marie Louise Chakapash were among a group of residential school survivors and health support workers to take part in an engagement session in Montreal held by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).

Over the past two months, the NCTR has been gathering feedback from First Nations, Mé​tis and Inuit residential school survivors and their families about the successes and challenges of the settlement agreement.

The $2 billion settlement was approved in 2006. As well as providing payments to residential school survivors, it funded the Aboriginal Healing Foundation for a limited period and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Funding for healing

The NCTR said common themes throughout the sessions have been concerns about access to funding for continued healing, especially for children and grandchildren who were left out of the settlement and are suffering the effects of intergenerational trauma.

Pachano told the centre's staff that many survivors in his community were not ready to talk about their experiences before the application deadline, and some still aren't.

"We did have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in Chisasibi and it was basically like this: the commissioners and five, maybe 10 people. It was opening just a little bit of the door," he said.

Since attending a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in Montreal in 2013, Pachano and Chakapash were inspired to start an annual healing conference for their fellow classmates who attended St. Phillip's Residential School and Ste. Thér​è​se de l'enfant Jesus residential school in Fort George.

"There were eight of us, and we said we should do something, and talk about it more," said Chakapash.

"I said, I don't want to be sad anymore. I want to talk about it even though I know I'm going to cry. It's going to be hard, but we should try something. I was silent for 30 years, now I'm getting used to [talking]."

The fourth annual conference took place July 31- Aug. 3 and has been growing each year. Chakapash said older generations in their community are only starting to share their stories now.

Informing future settlements

Material collected during the project will be compiled in a report in March and inform ongoing work on reconciliation in Canada, as well as the development of future settlement agreements.

"There's so much that can be learned with the future settlement agreements related to day schools, the Sixties Scoop, and Indian hospitals, sanatoriums," said Kaila Johnston, research co-ordinator at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

"Why not learn from this one agreement that has gone through already? How can we avoid those pitfalls and challenges related to forms, treatment of survivors, health support, and where should money be funnelled into to ensure survivors are taken care of in a good way that doesn't lead to more harm?"