Antoinette LaFleur waited most of her life for this day.
The Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school survivor and elder was on hand Monday to hear the federal government had signed a $27-million agreement in principle with survivors of the school.
“I endured because I was able to tell my story that had been hidden for so many years,” LeFleur said at a news conference in Île-à-la-Crosse.
LaFleur said she never told her children about the abuse she suffered at the school.
“I’ve waited 77 years for this time to happen.”
The agreement also comes with a personal apology from the federal government and an additional $10-million legacy fund to be used for cultural, language and treatment programs.
The Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School, in the village of Île-à-la-Crosse about 460 kilometres north of Saskatoon, was one of the oldest of its kind in Canada and operated from the 1860s to the mid-1970s.
Île-à-la-Crosse students were denied the Indian Residential School settlements that others received, on the basis that the school was run by the Roman Catholic Church with no federal funding.
Louis Gardner was sent to the school when he was just five and was there from 1961-69.
Gardner said he is happy the agreement comes with a personal apology.
“They used to force us to go to confession and tell your sins. Now we’re saying the same thing to them. You tell us your sins now.”
Survivors have been fighting for an apology with the federal and provincial governments for the past 20 years.
Gardner said with many survivors dying, it was imperative to get an agreement done.
“We’re losing the survivors at a rapid pace, and so we just feel that it’s time to at least honour some of our survivors and look after them the way we should be looking after them,” he said.
Metis Nation-Saskatchewan minister of justice and vice president Michelle LeClair said the agreement is just one step toward reconciliation and justice.
“With this settlement with Canada, it’s exciting, but we still have a lawsuit against the Saskatchewan government.”
Nearly two decades after survivors of the Île-à-la-Crosse Residential Boarding School sued Ottawa, they’ve announced a settlement. The deal includes $27.3 million for survivors or their families and an additional $10 million for a community fund.
LeClair said the federal government has accepted 50 per cent responsibility, and now survivors want the province to come to the table and reach a settlement.
“There can never be true reconciliation or justice for the survivors until Saskatchewan fulfils its obligations on this file,” LeClair said.
Survivors and the federal government are now working on drafting the final settlement agreement.
LeClair said they are hoping the beneficiaries could have access to the money sometime this summer.
Survivor and elder Emile Janvier said nothing can make up for what happened to children at the school.
“We went through hell just to get an education. We went through abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse and loneliness just to get an education,” Janvier said.
“No person should be treated like that.… It affects the children too.”
A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services for survivors and those affected.
