Former N.B. attorney general tapped by Indian day school survivors for help with resubmission fight

Some day school survivors in New Brunswick are paying $500 each to Lamrock's Law to help them try and change their level of compensation after filing a claim, despite the settlement's class counsel saying this is not possible.

Members of Elsipogtog First Nation say the process was unfair when they agreed to accept $10,000, the lowest level of compensation.

Susan Levi-Peters, former chief of Elsipogtog First Nation, attended the Big Cove Federal School for 10 years and hired lawyer Kelly Lamrock, who is a former N.B. attorney general and the current provincial child and youth advocate, to help her with filing her claim.

Later she began hearing from fellow survivors that they received level one compensation, when Levi-Peters knew first hand that they should have received a higher level. She knows her fellow students faced sexual, physical and emotional abuse in the school and were leaving too much money on the table by settling for level one.

She turned to Lamrock for help and he made multiple visits to the community to hear from survivors.

The Indian or federal day school system was an attempt to assimilate Indigenous children, by removing them from their languages and culture. The institutions were often run by religious institutions and some students faced physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse. The federal day school in Elsipogtog was run by the Roman Catholic church and operated from 1897-1985.

Under the 2019 class action settlement, survivors could file claims for compensation on a tiered system for harms suffered, from level one to level five, ranging from $10,000 to $200,000. Survivors making claims for levels two to five need to write a statement disclosing details of the abuse they suffered.

As of June 15, 2020, claimants could no longer resubmit or change the level of compensation they were seeking after filing a a claim. The deadline to file a claim is July 13.

Lamrock said the settlement's class counsel, Gowling, had an obligation to inform survivors of their legal rights and to better explain the application process. Lamrock said the claim form is 16 pages long and didn't do enough to consider the trauma of disclosure for the survivors.

Lamrock's firm put together a legal package after interviewing survivors that has a 10-page cover letter stating common narratives of abuse at the schools, and common stories from survivors that they were told to just sign their application during community information sessions; a signed affidavit, where a disclosure narrative is put together by legal counsel after interviewing the survivors; and advice on how to proceed.

Lamrock hopes this package is enough to have their applications resubmitted. He said if the re-submissions are rejected, the survivors should file a class action appeal.

But under the settlement agreement, legal fees are not allowed to be charged to survivors unless approved by the court.

The agreement states "No amounts, including legal fees or disbursements, may be charged to Survivor Class Members or Family Class Members in respect of compensation under this Settlement or any other advice, including legal advice, relating to this Settlement by anyone, including legal counsel, other than Class Counsel without the prior approval of such amounts by the Federal Court on a motion under Rule 334.4 of the Federal Court Rules on notice to the Parties."

Lamrock told CBC News his firm filed all the appropriate paperwork. Lamrock said Deloitte, the claims administrator, was made aware that he would be filing resubmissions.