Canada to compensate ‘Sixties Scoop’ victims

Anestimated 20,000 indigenous children taken from their families startingin the 1960s and placed for adoption or fostering will share in aC$800mn ($640mn) payout, the government announced yesterday.Theso-called “Sixties Scoop” saw them placed with primarily whitemiddle-class families in Canada, the United States and overseas.Inrecent years, as the children grew into adults and became aware of theirpast, several lawsuits and class actions have been filed over theirloss of aboriginal identity, claiming in court documents that itresulted in psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, unemployment,violence, and suicides.“People affected by the Sixties Scoop havetold us that the loss of their culture and language are among the worstkinds of harm that they suffered,” Indigenous Relations Minister CarolynBennett told a press conference. “That is why our government isresponding directly to remedy the ill-advised (policies) of the past.”Avisibly moved Bennett introduced six Scoop survivors: four who wereraised in the United States, another who now speaks with a Scottishaccent, and a sixth who had been taken from her home in the Arctic andplaced with a family in Nova Scotia province, more than 6,000km (3,725miles) away.“Their stories are heartbreaking,” Bennett said,describing firsthand accounts of their “identity being stolen” and“about not really feeling that you belong anywhere”.“I have greathope,” said lead plaintiff and Beaverhouse First Nations chief MarciaBrown Martel, “that this will never, ever happen in Canada again.”TheSixties Scoop, which actually continued into the 1980s, is just thelatest historical wrong suffered by Canada’s indigenous peoples thatOttawa has sought to redress.Starting in 1874, 150,000 Indian,Inuit, and Metis children in Canada were forcibly enrolled in 139boarding schools run by Christian churches – including the Catholicchurch – on behalf of the federal government in an effort to integratethem into society.Many survivors alleged abuse by headmasters and teachers, who stripped them of their culture and language.At least 3,200 students never returned home.The experience has been blamed for gross poverty and desperation in native communities that bred abuse, suicide and crime.Ottawa formally apologised in 2008 for the “cultural genocide” as part of a C$1.9bn ($1.5bn) settlement with former students.Thegovernment also launched an inquiry last year into thedisproportionately high rate of killings and disappearances ofindigenous women and girls in Canada.Indigenous women represent 4% of Canada’s population but 16% of homicide victims.More than 1,200 were murdered or have gone missing over the past three decades.Bennett was at a loss to explain Canada’s past assimilation policies.“Idon’t know what people were thinking,” said the former paediatrician.“I don’t know how governments thought they could do a better job (atraising children) than their parents, their village, their community.”Bennett said an official apology would be forthcoming.She also said there may still be a need to “totally overhaul the child welfare system as it is right now”.“Too many children are still being taken from their families,” the minister said.Thesettlement, which still requires court approval, will be split betweenScoop survivors and a reconciliation foundation that will help them toreacquire their language and culture, with C$750mn going directly to thesurvivors.A small number of lawsuits launched by other survivorsremain outstanding and are not included in the settlement, but Bennettsaid she would “work with them” toward a resolution.Those individuals who were sent abroad to live with foreign families will also be invited to return to Canada, if they wish.