Saskatoon lawyer Dan Shapiro is well-intentioned in applying to a court to have the private records and testimony of nearly 38,000 residential school abuse survivors destroyed, but the drastic measure should not go ahead.

Not only would it destroy unique information that provides great insight into the horrific history of Canada's residential schools, but it would also be a disservice to the long-term interests of the descendants of the survivors who came forward with heart-wrenching stories of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that led to generations of family dysfunction and other problems that today marginalize too many First Nations people.

As chief adjudicator for the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) that assesses complaints of abuse and decides on compensation for survivors, Mr. Shapiro notes that the claims process was meant to be confidential and safe.

While it's true that the documents include medical records and income tax information as well as graphic personal stories, his assessment is wrong that destroying all documentation is the only way to ensure the privacy of individuals and confidentiality of the files.

Further, not all survivors want their documents destroyed, including some who weren't among the 7,000 persons who participated in the parallel Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings to tell their stories publicly.

Even though the measures required to ensure that survivors aren't revictimized by having intimate details of their stories widely disseminated are bound to be complex, that doesn't mean what Mr. Shapiro wants done is desirable or even possible - especially when some of the information is contained in federal records that will be stored at the national archives. The University of Manitoba will host the National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation that's being established to archive the millions of documents gathered by the commission.

Director Ry Moran says the oral history of First Nations people will be a fundamental component of the collection. The survivors' documents would be treated with respect, Mr. Moran says, and the names of survivors who are unwilling to be identified would never be disclosed.

"If those records are retained, and if they are managed in a highly restricted manner with the utmost of privacy controls, information can still be reviewed, but only with all of the personal identifying information stripped out."

As Kimberly Murray, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's executive director, says, the Winnipeg centre would allow aboriginal control over the files to ensure that private medical records are made permanently inaccessible to anyone. She feels the U of M research centre is the "safest and most respectful place to protect the records."

Knowing about the conditions at residential schools faced by many of the 150,000 aboriginal children who were placed in them "to take the Indian out of the child" is invaluable for ensuing generations of aboriginal people understand their legacy, and for historians and sociologists to put in context the repercussions that flow from the experience in Canada.

However well-intentioned, destroying the painful records is tantamount to trying to wipe the slate clean.

The editorials that appear in this space represent the opinion of The StarPhoenix. They are unsigned because they do not necessarily represent the personal views of the writers. The positions taken in the editorials are arrived at through discussion among the members of the newspaper's editorial board, which operates independently from the news departments of the paper.