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Press Release – MN-S Welcomes Historic Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School Agreement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MN-S Welcomes Historic Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School Agreement

May 8, 2019 – Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) welcomes the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of Canada and a steering committee representing Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School survivors.

“For decades, survivors and their families have advocated passionately and fiercely for recognition of the students who attended that school,” said MN-S President Glen McCallum.“We have had promise after promise by federal governments to address this issue. We can finally say the issue has been discussed in an open and honest manner and that our people will be properly recognized.”

The Government of Canada is committed to working with Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School steering committing, beginning with a signing of an MOU that will lay out the plan and process for a fair resolution.

Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school survivors and their families were left out of the compensation agreement negotiated in the 1990s and were never compensated for the loss of their culture, language and traditions, nor for the abuses endured while in school. The school operated from the 1880s to the mid-1970s before it was closed and became a treatment centre.

“I have personally endured the abuse of a residential school and I have spoken at length about the impacts,” said McCallum. “It is impossible for people who have never attended to understand the impact. For those who endured and survived, the impact continues to this day.

“This issue has been a priority for MN-S I am proud of the work and advocacy that has been done on behalf of the survivors. I am grateful to the members of the steering committee and survivors for their commitment. All of MN-S stands with them. Finally, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Minister Carolyn Bennett, who has championed this at the government level and sat with survivors on a number of occasions to listen. I have been to her office and I know she has a brick on her shelf that is a reminder of this school.”

The MOU will address the class action suit against federal and provincial governments currently before the courts.

For more information, please contact:

Creative Fire

Alina Perrault

306.934.3337 or 306.292.4896

Download the official press release here: MN-S Press Release Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School Agreement-May 8, 2019

Watch the entire press conference and follow up interviews with the media. 

Métis Nation-Saskatchewan
310 20th Street East, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0A7
306-343-8285