Canada will pay $2.8 billion in compensation for the collective harm caused by the residential school system and the loss of language, culture and heritage.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller announced at a press conference in Vancouver on Saturday that the government had signed an agreement with the 325 nations involved in the class action litigation, the statement read.
This agreement will be used to compensate survivors and descendants of residential schools.
The $2.8 billion will be placed in a not-for-profit trust “to support healing, wellness, education, heritage, language and commemoration activities,” it says.
The organization’s permanent board will be made up of nine directors, all of whom will be Aboriginal.
This new organization, independent of government, will be guided by the four pillars developed by the representatives of the claimants: the revival and protection of indigenous languages, the revival and protection of indigenous cultures, the protection and promotion of heritage, the well- be indigenous communities and their members.
The agreement comes after a lawsuit by two First Nations in British Columbia.
