St. Anne’s survivors take fight to Supreme Court

NDP MP Angus says the Liberal government has failed the test on reconciliation

TIMMINS – Survivors of St. Anne’s Residential School are taking their fight for justice to the Supreme Court. The survivors have been engaged in a ten-year legal battle with the federal government. At issue was the decision by the Justice Department to suppress thousands of pages of police and court evidence at the hearings held into crimes committed against children at St. Anne’s. NDP MP Charlie Angus has worked alongside the survivors and says they have attempted time and time again to get the government to sit down and admit that an injustice was committed and to find an out of court solution. The Liberal government has refused and now the issue is being brought to the Supreme Court.

"The fact that St. Anne’s survivors have had to take their fight for justice all the way to the Supreme Court is a damning indictment of the Liberals' record on reconciliation. How can the Canadian government claim that it respects the rule of law when they suppressed thousands of pages of evidence of the horrific crimes committed against the children?” asked Angus.

The upcoming visit to Canada by Pope Francis will bring a great deal of public attention on the Catholic Church’s role in the crimes against Indigenous children. However, Angus says the Supreme Court fight of St. Anne’s survivors is proof that the Liberal government continues to fail in its duty to survivors.

“The St. Anne’s survivors have suffered some of the most horrific abuse imaginable. And yet the Liberal government continues to perpetuate the injustice by refusing to sit down with the survivors to find a fair solution. There can be no reconciliation in Canada without justice for those harmed at St. Anne’s.”