The proposal from the lawyer working for the claims secretariat called for all records to be destroyed two years after the last residential school survivor has their claim resolved. Justice Paul Perell, the judge charged with administering the case, said he favours a retention period of at least 15 years in any case.

Edmund Metatawabin, a survivor of St. Anne’s residential school, has previously opposed the destruction of the documents. He also opposed the suggestion that the records would be locked away and in the hands of the government.

“In 30 years time, who’s going to remember this issue? Who’s going to be interested in opening this file?” said Metatawabin, who also decried their destruction.

Metatawabin said the historical records are vital for Canadians to remember the past and learn from it.

“I am one of the survivors who was abused and I say don’t hide them. The people who are trying to hide them never felt all of these abuses, never felt helpless at the hands of perpetrators and predators, never stayed in bed and hoped that nobody would touch them during the night. It was hell to be in there,” said Metatawabin.

Those who testified in the individual hearings did so with the understanding that their testimony would remain confidential, according to Steven Cooper, partner at Ahlstrom Wright Oliver & Cooper LLP, a firm that has represented more than 2,000 survivors.

“I can assure you that the vast majority of survivors are aghast at the notion that their records would be maintained,” said Cooper in an email. “Ninety per cent of clients don’t want to see any record of the hearing and are relieved by the thought that the records will be destroyed. Some will only give their testimony on that understanding.”

The commission’s proposal would pass the documents to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada to be sealed for at least 30 years and a large-scale “enhanced notice” program to inform claimants about the fate of their transcripts, applications and decisions. The notice would also give survivors the opportunity to voluntarily submit their materials to the archive in Manitoba.

At the end of 30 years, the documents would be transferred to Library and Archives Canada where they would be subject to the federal Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

“A destruction order means it’s irreversible. You create an act that can’t be changed about accounts that are some of the most detailed accounts we have access to,” said Falconer. “A court should be empowered to open that vault in two generations to deal with what neither you nor I can anticipate.”

The hearing is scheduled to continue Wednesday.