Files documenting worst abuses at residential schools to be destroyed unless survivors ask otherwise

Files documenting the worst abuses at residential schools are set to be destroyed in 2027 and, despite a multi-year outreach, some survivors say they didn't know they could opt to have their files preserved.

Christina Kitchekesik, a member of Tataskweyak (Split Lake) Cree Nation, attended Guy Hill residential school near The Pas, Man., where she endured physical, mental, spiritual and sexual abuse.

As an advocate for survivors, Kitchekesik ,74, has shared her own experience at residential school with others over the years to help promote understanding and healing. 

She also shared her experience in the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) which was created by the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement alongside the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). 

The TRC heard 6,700 survivors speak about what happened to them at residential schools. The IAP provided survivors like Kitchekesik the chance to be compensated for the abuse they suffered at school, and 38,000 came forward. 

Their IAP files contain their testimony, along with documentary evidence of their time at residential school, with items like medical records documenting physical abuse.

Despite her advocacy work and her regular contact with people at the National Council for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), which stores the records from the TRC, Kitchekesik says she did not know that she could have her IAP file preserved as part of the historical record at the NCTR.

Of the 38,000 people who filed claims with the IAP, 90 per cent had a hearing or settlement negotiation, according to the IAP website. 

The process was made confidential so survivors would be comfortable sharing painful and personal details. It also meant that any people associated with the schools who were accused of abuse would not have those details made public. 

The question of what to do with the files afterward arrived at the Supreme Court in 2017. The NCTR and the Canadian government opposed the destruction of the files, while many Catholic organizations, lawyers who acted for IAP claimants and the Assembly of First Nations supported destroying them.

The AFN was not available for an interview.

The court ruled the IAP files must be destroyed by Sept. 19, 2027. The court's ruling established a program to notify survivors about the deadline and to let survivors know they had options — they could request their files for their own keeping or consent to have them sent to the NCTR to be preserved, or both. If they chose to give their files to the NCTR, they could choose to have identifying information removed from the documents. 

Marie Pelletier, 74, attended four different residential schools in Manitoba throughout the '50s and '60s, including Pine Creek, Fort Alexander, Sandy Bay and Assiniboia. 

She wasn't aware she could give her IAP files to the NCTR.