Chief optimistic about new office

Page 1

A new federal body is being created to help speed up resolution of residential school claims.

The creation of the new Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada was announced by Prime Minister Jean Chretien on June 7. The office will report to Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray. Jack Stagg will be deputy head, as well as chief federal negotiator, working with church leaders to reach an agreement on shared responsibility for abuses that occurred within the residential schools, and compensation for those abuses.

Stagg, who was appointed special advisor to the deputy Prime Minister in May, worked at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) for more than 20 years. Prior to his latest appointment, he was associate deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

According to Allison MacNeil in the deputy prime minister's office, the new office will consolidate existing resources dedicated to the residential school claims within the departments of Indian Affairs and Justice.

"The idea is to centralize and focus federal efforts and co-ordinate negotiations between the government and the major church organizations regarding their shared responsibility for the claims that are arising out of residential schools issues," MacNeil said.

"The office will examine how to resolve claims in and outside of the courts, and will assist in implementing the government's wider objectives of facilitating healing and reconciliation for residential school survivors and their communities."

Chief Robert Joseph is executive director of the Provincial Residential School Project, a sub-committee of the First Nations Summit in British Columbia that works to help residential school survivors. Although details about how the new office will function haven't been made available, Chief Joseph has a wish list of what he'd like to see happen.

"I just think immediately that it will be important for the new office to act independently and autonomously from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. And if it can do that- if it has the mandate and the authority to operate autonomously from Indian Affairs, and the federal government in general, so to speak-it can be focused in seeking resolution to the residential school issue," Chief Joseph said.

"For the most part, they've had a section within Indian Affairs that has primarily responded to the litigation side of things, and its primary workload has been to provide a defence for the federal government against the lawsuits. And hopefully, this new office will create a broader vision around healing and reconciliation and advancing other solutions beyond existing ones, which are primarily legal. So in that respect, I think it's an important development."

Chief Joseph hopes that by expanding the focus beyond litigation, the office will go beyond dealing with sexual and physical abuse, and also look at other losses caused by residential schools, such as loss of language and loss of culture.Chief Joseph expects to learn more about the new office later this month, when he meets with the Privy Council and with Jack Stagg in Ottawa. Until then, he remains optimistic.