'I'm glad it's over'

By Daniel Maceachern
Southern Gazette
May 10, 2016

http://www.southerngazette.ca/News/Local/2016-05-10/article-4524540/Im-glad-its-over/1

A residential school survivor fought back tears Tuesday morning after news broke about a $50-million settlement for residential school survivors.

"I'm glad it's over," said Rex Holwell of Labrador on Tuesday morning.

Holwell, 65, testified in Supreme Court last fall that he was punished for bedwetting at the Northwest River residential school by being locked in the attic at night without lights or a washroom.

Holwell counts himself lucky to be one of the survivors still around to see a deal reached. 

"It's good there's a settlement, but there's a lot of us now that are gone," said Holwell. "Where this trial has been on the go now for almost 10 years, a lot of us have passed on."

Holwell said he hopes the settlement will help survivors put the abuse behind them.

"A lot of the memories …" he said, choking up. "I've got them locked away and I don't want them to come out."

For those left — about 800 people represented in a class-action suit on abuse and cultural loss suffered by former students of residential schools — the settlement, which still needs to be approved by a judge, will provide some financial compensation. A lawyer for the plaintiffs told the Canadian Press that students who lived in school residences for less than five years are eligible for $15,000, while those who lived there for more than five years are eligible for $20,000.

For students who suffered abuse, payments could be up to $200,000.

Steven Cooper, class counsel from Sherwood Park, Alta. — along with Ches Crosbie of St. John’s and Kirk Baert and Celeste Poltak of Toronto — said the response from members of the class-action suit has been gratifiying.

“My source of joy today was seeing the reaction of so many people who were hoping for the best, but fearing the worst,” Cooper said. “And to finally hear that the end was near, that they were back in the club of Canadians, as it were, was just wonderful. We’re thrilled with the outcome. It’s a fair outcome, but most importantly it’s giving solace to a large group of people very deserving of it.”

Holwell said he wasn’t sure the deal reached compares to settlements reached elsewhere in Canada.

“It’s good that we’re getting something, but I don’t say we’re going to get anywhere what the other ones got,” he said. “I think it should have equal parity to the rest of Canada.”

A package reached in Ontario amounted to $10,000 per person plus $3,000 per year of residential school attendance, with a maximum of $275,000 for abuse as well as an additional $250,000 for income loss.

There’s also the matter of legal fees — one-third of that $50 million is earmarked for the lawyers, pending the judge’s approval.

Nevertheless, said Holwell — whose wife also attended residential school — the settlement marks the beginning of the end.

“I guess we just move on now, and try to find the good in it,” he said.

Torngat Mountains MHA Randy Edmunds said the settlement will mean a lot for his constituents, and even members of his family. 

“Right from people at the age of my grandmother, right down to my older sisters, it’s been a long ordeal, and it’s caused a lot of pain and suffering,” Edmunds said.

He said he hopes there will ultimately be an apology from the federal government. In the meantime, he said, the settlement will help.

“It’s been a major part of the discussion, because it impacted them so much in their younger years, that they’ve carried all this pain forward, and they want to bring some closure to it,” Edmunds said. “They were desperate to find any means of self-healing, and I think this is a major, major component of that.”

Tuesday’s decision doesn’t mean cheques will immediately start being cut. The approval hearing is expected to start Sept. 27 in St. John’s. Assuming the judge approves the deal, there will be 30 days to allow for an appeal, after which the claims process will start.

There will be six months allowed to receive general compensation claims — “If you don’t file your claim within six months, with very few exceptions, you’re simply out of luck and will not have any claim against any of the parties,” said Cooper — with two months after that to process those claims.

After that, abuse claims will be considered, but those could take longer because of the higher amounts involved and the potential need for hearings.

Cooper said, all told, payments shouldn’t take longer than about a year after the appeal process expires, meaning towards the end of 2017.