Île-à-la-Crosse school survivors meet in Saskatoon, want recognition for abuse they endured

Hundreds of boarding school survivors are in Saskatoon this weekend. It's the first time so many people who were forced to go to the Île-à-la-Crosse boarding school in northern Saskatchewan are together.

Organizers of the event, which is running until Sunday at TCU Place, are calling it a "survivors' gathering." They say it's a chance to share stories and push for recognition for physical, sexual and emotional abuse they endured at the school.

Survivors drove from all over North America, including Vancouver, Stanley Mission, the Northwest Territories and even Idaho. They have never received government financial compensation for what they endured in Île-à-la-Crosse. 

Michelle LeClair, vice-president of Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S), said the gathering is a chance for MN-S to hear what the survivors would like to see done in the long-run in terms of compensation and healing. 

LeClair said the powers that be cannot simply say sorry and make promises. 

"Big organizations like the Catholic Church have to include reconciliation and accommodation. Accommodation means money to restore the community to what it was when they found it. And those were healthy, happy communities," LeClair said.

"Now we see the destruction. Destruction of many families, communities, and we need to get that back."

Legal experts are present at the gathering to update attendees on the recent Survivors' Committee class-action lawsuit.

The boarding school in Île-à-la-Crosse had about 1,500 children from northern Saskatchewan, most of them Métis, forced to attend from the 1860s to the 1970s.

Of the children who attended, between 600 and 700 are still alive, according to MN-S. 

While many of these survivors say they suffered abuse and discrimination at the school, advocates say historic, inconsistent government policies have held them back from receiving compensation.

LeClair said Île-à-la-Crosse survivors have received a lot of misinformation in the past from law firms that were supposed to be working on their compensation case. She said it's time for them to get transparency. 

"This whole [class] action is run by many, not a few, because they had not felt included and now they are. So this is a fantastic room and I'm just happy that we're here together," LeClair said of the Saskatoon gathering. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada described the schooling in Île-à-la-Crosse as "long and complex."