InFocus examines those left out of the proposed ‘60s Scoop settlement | APTN InFocus

[Music] good afternoon i'm dennis ward welcome to in focus today we are talking about the matey anon status being excluded from the proposed 60 scoop settlement that was announced in October of last year and we want you to join in on our conversation our phone lines are open call us toll free at one eight seven seven six four seven two seven eight six you can also tweet us at APTN in focus use the hash tag matey scoop before I introduce you to our guests let's set the scene John Murray caught us John Murray will catch us up with what's been happening with the proposed settlement the firm contracted to manage the applications and settlement for the 60 scoop lawsuit has released the agreement in principle for the settlement there are anywhere from twenty thousand to two hundred thousand survivors that may be eligible for this settlement they can now participate in developing the details of the final agreement which the government has capped at a maximum of seven hundred and fifty million dollars survivors who don't like the agreement in principle will have the opportunity to go to court at their own expense to present their objections a disagreement in principle still does not include compensation for matey and non-status adoptees and that doesn't sit well with the Assembly of First Nations last year they passed a resolution that rejects any settlement that does not include all original peoples the afn says they will fight this current agreement aptn national news reached lea McMillan by telephone he is a lawyer with DD West LLP the firm supported by the AFN resolution well our thoughts are overwhelmingly negative we do not believe that the what is being proposed in this proposed settlement agreement is fair and reasonable or in the best interests of the sixties scoop survivors across Canada we will be using every tool in our Arsenal to ensure that the agreement in this current form is non-final life some say 750 million is too little if there are as many as 100,000 survivors applying that will only be 7,500 each and nothing from 80 and non-status indians we are joined in studio by robert Doucet the former president of the maytee nation of saskatchewan he was taken from his family when he was just 6 months old and placed with a non Aboriginal family Robert recently announced his intentions to sue the federal and Saskatchewan governments over the 60 scoop we're also joined by Kyra Wilson Kyra is Robert's eldest daughter and has worked as an advocate for indigenous families in Manitoba caught up in the current child welfare system Harris currently a master student in Social Work at the University of Manitoba our pleasure to have you both here in studio with us and joining us from our Ottawa studio is Dwayne more so back the director of the National Indigenous survivors of child welfare Network Dwayne real pleasure to have you join us from Ottawa as well Thank You Dennis Robert if we could start with you and I wonder if you'd be willing to share some of your story with us yes I 56 years ago on February 28 1962 I was born and about 6 6 6 or 7 months after I was born Social Services came to my community and any scoop me and the day that they scooped me they didn't really tell anybody and one of my auntie's have informed our family that they were taking me and today that they took me my my mushroom was running after the car and and was actually swearing and throwing rocks at declaring he spoke five languages and was swearing it all the languages that I understand and and they and they took me and then if I could just bring this about three years ago when I was 53 my mother says I have something for you have kept it for 53 years and I want you to have it but it might make you cry and I said okay maybe don't make me cry she went to her closet and brought this over she said this is your baby sweater today they took you they took this off for you I kept this for 53 years I held it in my arm every day or every birthday February 28th I held it so I could remember you that I loved you that we never forgot about you and we missed you and we wanted you to come home so for 50 years my mother held this with her and on my 53rd year she gave it to me we all cried that day so you know it's been a journey I met my mother when I was actually 20 years old I was playing on a native senior hockey team and gentleman from Buffalo narrows and it didn't actually believe I was a makai and and my auntie julia Pittsville came to know balford and I met with her and she said I said to her when I met with her I said are you my mother and she goes no but your family's been looking for you for 20 years so she gave me my mother's phone number it was an iMac I Ludwick who lives in Rock Labiche and we found and the day that we met I remember walking down the street and and this young man and I looked at each other and you know how you know your gun you know you kind of look at each other you're gunning each other off and I looked at this kinda thing oh who is this guy but I don't have time for that so I walked and I walked into Boston Pizza and I walked around just the the restaurant and I walked up I knew who my mom was when I walked into but I just tried to play it cool and I walked up and I said are you dying Makai and she stood up she said yes I am she's no you Robert Makai said yes I am and we hugged each other and again we were crying who walks in about five minutes later it's young guy that we were getting off in sure there was my younger brother Peter so you know I've had a relationship with them ever since and now I found out that I actually have I have six other biological brothers and six biological sisters from from two different families and tried to make my journey back to the family that I belong to and it's still a journey every day dealing with this because as my mother said in a letter that she wrote to Prime Minister Canada she said you know you you took one thing away from my son that you never hear and that was to hear him say I love you and Cree and I'm sorry kind of get worked up about that but it doctor it's it's hard not to you know when when when things are taken away from you and and I'm not the only one there are thousands of kids that feel the same way making First Nations and Inuit kids that have been denied their families and so that's my journey and doing hearing that journey and you know those traumatic experiences that have stayed with you for decades it might seem obvious but why have you filed this lawsuit why are you seeking here well you know I think for a number of reasons number one again just reading you back to my family in 1906 my mushroom so Islamic I was was was guaranteed with his family two hundred and forty acres of land it's a hundred twelve years later we're still waiting my family when they had the prime real estate bombing range they were living on a mattress River the federal and provincial governments now created the Primrose League bombing range where they bomb and strafe they kicked my family out of there and he took my grandfather to the residential school they scooped me up and all along matey people including my family have been told by successive governments including Carolyn Bennett now just wait just wait we'll get you next phase and I'm tired of being told to wait and so I when on October 6th and Minister Bennett said that there was going to be an apology and she gave one in compensation and when I heard and realized that the meet you were taking out of it it really luckily in a state of shock and disbelief and I just thought to myself enough is enough the only time that the provincial and federal governments ever listened to indigenous people in this country is when we're suing them and that's a very sad statement on this country when that has to come to that because they know indigenous people don't have a lot of money and you have us over a barrel so you know a case like this will probably run you one individual a hundred thousand dollars so it's not a cheap undertaking doing that let's go to you in Ottawa and you feel there was a failure to consult sixties scoop survivors on this proposed settlement agreement what are your concerns with how this is all unfolded so far well I think you know thank you for having us so first of all and I think for us 60 scoop survivors are a community and you know through the work through the national network we've had gatherings where we brought you know 60s group survivors from Canada United States and even as far as New Zealand and we've brought them together as a community and we have bonded and the the issue of the litigation that was going forward that we heard that was going through the courts sort of resonated with us in terms of you know these things going forward without our voice and I really think at this point in time with a number of initiatives going on across the country like the missing and mirin dishes file and so forth that we're the survivors are wanting to have their voice heard and when the announcement came in October that was you know a more than like like a shock to the to the community and and then after fully realizing some of the provisions within the agreement it started another shock and then of course then people started to talk within the community across the country thinking that their voices weren't being heard and so we're seeing this manifest across the country in in the cities and in communities across our across Canada and Robert going back to your legal action and you feel that 60 scoop of maytee survivors have no no options left I guess other than to take legal action no we we have no other option to this because to be quite honest I I'm not waiting for another politician in Ottawa to deal with the making issues all along and as I harken back to my last statement the Mekhi family have been waiting for respect and justice since 1906 and now you've just heaped on another just wait you know and the province of Saskatchewan with now premier mol has said that you know actually prior to that three years ago premier Brad Wall the then premier said that he was going to apologize their position has been that there will be no compensation but in fact there was one case in Saskatchewan already and some say it is a 60 scoop case and some say it isn't it's the Vince van del case where a foster child was actually compensated by the provincial government for 110,000 dollars so you know what when when you don't feel like you're being respected and you don't feel like there is justice and you keep hearing the same thing over and over again what's your final recourse you you you have no recourse but to seek legal counsel I have legal counsel and his name is Doug Racine he's in Saskatoon Saskatchewan and he's actually a Manitoba matey from the Turtle Mountain but he has taken on this case willingly and now as I speak as I had said to Minister Bennett and now premier mo there are now two more main key cases have been filed against the federal government and provinces Saskatchewan to date and those are my two sisters Arlene and Shirley so so you know I I just think that you know I'm happy that now we're we keep hearing this word reconciliation and healthy community but when when when you are left out of the equation and and you're being told over and over again to wait then you have to take matters into your own hands and and this is our final recourse and of course I did follow human rights complaint against Canada and I am waiting for a letter from them to see what exactly their position is and what they're going to what they're going to do with with my human rights complaint against against Canada herre I mean for us hearing your father's stories is difficult but it's have been like for your family all these years well as I was you know a young child I didn't really know the story as I became a parent to my own little girl and as I got older I started hearing more of my my father's story and it's really sad and disheartening actually that this happened to my father and to my kokum you know she she's an amazing woman she's so strong so smart and the fact that somebody felt that they could come into our family's home and take my father it angers me you know it's it's another reason why I decided to you know study social work and to be a part of that and to be a part of the movement where we're saying you know enough is enough when it comes to taking our children and that's why I sit here today with my father supporting him so when I definitely want to pick up a little later on their experience with what's been taking place in today's child welfare system but I understand we have a caller on the line from the Northwest Territories a survivor of the scoop noeleen from the Northwest Territories hi Nolan can you hear us hello I know lean hi you're alive with us here now your your experience with the 60 school hi good afternoon Marcie Joe yeah Nelly off PC the unit and Marcie Cirrus in Sofia go so what I just said now translate that I thank you this afternoon for allowing me to speak but I want to thank the people there that are speaking for my heart thank you so I've been watching and been doing some advocating work also I guess most of my life because I've been in the residential school process because they also put up in there if they didn't have room for us in foster homes or group homes or their receiving home so my concern is that even though the government has acknowledged what they have done another behavior they're continuing is not controlling now were firt we're in the Northwest Territories and this process that's happening in the East so the way I've looked at the whole process and studied it and stepped outside the box to understand why we're put in this process and of course we know the agendas of the government you know to take us off the land that's the one thing I do know for a fact that they had to do was ensure there are no tribal people living on that in the areas they want developed so that was another reason that they took the children off the lab because the parents will follow okay and so I was taken on and off over time but my grandparents took me when I was 10 months old because my grandfather did not want us to go in the system so he took us and I wish my brother and I were raised with my mind parent my mother's younger siblings so this is why I speak my language today my point also is that I am of mixed blood I am also a McCoy we know of the fur trade and how some of the our people went up and down the river system so we're also Mackay's in in the Northwest Territories there's bloodline up there now I find that the government what they've been doing in the past is they've given out these contracts the federal government gives the contract for example to the territorial government the territorial government then contracts out to group homes if they don't have one they create one if there's not one that's able to contract to the government they will create an institution so this is where we've been we've been placed for so long and all these different institutions in that the we know now as that child growing up in this at these institutions the one the one thing that I found and a lot of the survivors will you know back up to this point is that there was no compassion or empathy by the workers at times by the social workers but back in the day there were no social workers what they used was administrators sorry and I apologize I do have to cut you off there my my apologies I do appreciate you taking the time though to to call in and share your story with us but we do have to take a short break but first if you would like to join the conversation here's how join our conversation now send your thoughts and an email to in focus at apt nga like our APTN in focus Facebook page follow and tweet us at APTN InFocus or call in toll free at one eight seven seven six four seven two seven eight six welcome back to InFocus and we're gonna go to some social media now to hear what some of you have been saying about today's topic and we asked what are your thoughts about matey and non-status being left out of the proposed settlement and so we'll go to some of your comments here and Barbara says ridiculous matey were recognized as equals to First Nations right is there suffering less than that of any other peoples and to Christina on Facebook it's just everyone for themselves like always and if non status has no one at the table why does anyone else need to care over to Nancy and her comment matey were not scooped away from reserves they did not even live on reserves not all aboriginal groups were treated the same in Canada learn your history and of course there you can find more of these comments on her Facebook and Twitter pages from Bernadette Indian Affairs does not protect the indigenous peoples by their laws either but yet they still have to hire lawyers to defend their claims and we'll go to at settle OHS this is from Twitter and if the Aboriginal communities can't get their collective stuff together to agree on a settlement proposal or offer by the Canadian government how in the hell can they are they supposed to solve the issues and from Lorraine did we learn nothing from the rial resistance what were the matey fighting for it's not a fair settlement until it's fair for everyone and finally here from Tina karma for the matey they should have stood up for the non status when they were fighting to regain their status leaving the non status to fight from themselves and there's plenty more of these comments if you'd like to add your opinion to our topic or conversation here's how join our conversation now send your thoughts in an email to in focus at apt NCAA like our apt n InFocus Facebook page follow and tweet us at APTN InFocus or call in toll free at one eight seven seven six four seven two seven eight six as you may have heard this week that may t have secured a meeting with the minister of crown indigenous relations after being excluded from the sixties scoop compensation proposal Manitoba matey Federation president David Chartrand will be said sitting down with Carolyn Bennett in the coming weeks president Chartrand joined us earlier to speak about it president Chartrand thanks for joining us we understand that the Liberal government is somehow looking to rectify what went on with the 60 scoop and matey and that Minister Bennett has written to you can you tell us what's about to take place well Dennis let me start off by saying I'm very pleased that the government of the state can approach the art very clear they want to deal with an unsettled matter clearly that still resonates strong in the hearts of many of our citizens in the prairies of course the scope was very dramatic to many of our families we lost hundreds upon hundreds of our children and actually I always used it if you go back and throw it on my comments last over 20 years I've been arguing this file and arguing that our children were sold to United States and passed on outside of the country so there was no cost left for Canada or the provinces so but unfortunately there was a lot of damage and and heartbreak that occurred we ourselves in comment commenced our own search we actually called it lost mugs in program and back in the 80s we started doing fundraising nobody nobody assisted us of course and nobody was helping a search for these children but we began to find them of course as no adults in the United States and we were able to reconnect them with their with their with their kin back here in Manitoba and I'm telling you that Dennis I sat in some of these gatherings and somebody's who were happening we did a lot of bakes bingos you name it and to raise money to bring them home and there was a lot of tears shed a lot of heartbreak some anger strong anger sometimes for from from those children now came adults who we're told when they were living the United States that either their parents were dead or their parents that want them and they were cast away that's why they're living with a new family and so they always had this art ship why why would my family want me or the art shift of knowing thinking that their parents were dead and B had no kin and and and I sat there and cried along with some of them along with some my my own cabinet and so we were able to at least I think bring over thirty in um home ourselves or more I'd have to get that exact number from my department but we did it on our own and and someone Amachi and and but Dennis the sad part is that when you look at the full story even with the if you did some kind of analysis what the ones we brought home the percentage of it was a good family some some good memories were very small the there are more or less felt that they were like slaves for a lot of these farmers out there that actually adopted him and took them actually we ain't had one that was shipped in with just a pair of shorts and landed in Toronto because I guess at the age of eighteen they got to reapply for their citizenship in a lot of the adoptees that took these their doctors it took the adoptees arm eighty kids didn't reapply at eighteen and one was charged with some kind of offense and then finally finally then an alien considered an alien the United States and he shipped on wooden land up in Toronto and and we were fortunate a month before that we had a contact with em er searching all over in the West and the prairies and he found his home here in Manitoba and actually came from a small making community not far from duck day so so you look at it from that side it was quite interesting but thank God we found him before I don't also have been sitting in Toronto with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt because he comes from the southern far southern part of the United States and who are you worried what it turned to who he went to and he didn't know no family so so we were fortunate to already connect him prior to United States deporting up here with no no warning nothing slapped him on a plane and shipped him out president Chartrand we're hearing from some 80 survivors of the 60 scoop that the grass roots are being consulted by the MMF what would you say to those concerns well you know it'll never please 100 percent of anything but if people are saying I'm not consulting with them that'd be strange because we consulted anybody and everybody tour we have a very powerful communication strategy campaign at the Federation and again some people may want to individually pursue matters and believe they'll do better on their own but from a collective standpoint I think it's very clear the main t government is advancing under some of the things I'm concerned about dentist is that a lot of lawyers have signed up so many of our citizens and not one is filed in the courts of Manitoba and but at the end of the day address any settlement I guarantee it will be looking at a very certain percentage that they want to be champion off to their paychecks to the lawyers I have concerns are not that make the government not charge a dime our job is to fight for our people and get what we believe is is going to them and at the end of day I'm concerned that lawyers gonna try to make money on this and so if people are complaining and I'd love to know the names Dennis because I don't know of anybody and I and you know me I travel awareness province so so from my perspective the people have given me the mandate to move on this file and I'm moving on it not only from Manitoba but comity nation of Canada president Chartrand appreciate you taking the time to join us know thank you for much Dennis and let's bring our guests back in and maybe Duane if we could get you to react to some of what President Chartrand was saying there that feels plenty of consultation is is taking place has taken place well I mean I think presidents are trying to know him personally and you know I know of him is you know working hard for the people and I actually had a brief meeting with him in December in Ottawa to talk a little bit about raising the raising the voices form 80 60 school survivors and we I was clear with them that it's important that matey survivors are consulted that they're part of any kind of discussion that would go forward in any kind of agreement and this is the position of the national network visa vie for all of the for all indigenous peoples and you know we've worked with one of his ministers Andrew carrier to move on aim 80/60 scoop matey round table which is something that I understand is still in the works they were preparing a position paper that was going to be used to support a some form of funding process so that they could begin some of those preliminary discussions and I think that's sort of the route that we're going forward one of our concerns as 60 scoop survivors is political organizations beginning to take the take their reins and you know in in in all due respect to our politicians they the message from 6sq survivors is that they need to we need to be heard and we articulated that that in our press conference last week you know to the federal government but we're also going to be messaging to the political organizations in any organization that is--that's wants to do this work is to make sure that 60 scoop survivors are part of the conversation and so you know we're starting to see this part of this part of the reason why this is sort of has come into play is the an examples from the Manitoba apology the government at that time only consulted 20 people and then did an apology but the maytee from my understanding weren't really part of that process and so these these type of actions that have gone on have really triggered and have caused great harm and you know as matey people and as the 60 scoop people where we are a collective people and so we need to make sure that our voices are heard you mentioned the Manitoba apology and I don't like to go to the phone lines here because somebody who I remember well from that day of that apology is Stewart and he's on the phone now joining us in Manitoba and he's also one of the plaintiffs in these cases and Stewart thanks for for calling in Stewart you have wanted to add your voice to this conversation yeah there's no one to thank Robert for taking the time and the strength and Kyra for being there to do this this is a it's an emotional time it's a it's an intense time for everybody but you know one of the things is that when I lived in California I moved back to Manitoba two years ago you know due to the 60 scoop I had I did not know what maytee were and I assumed that the first the lawsuit was going to be the equation with First Nations babies taking and put into non Aboriginal homes so now that this cases that I've turned into a diverse diverse situation you know we're not we're not happy with the settlement either we call it we call it a drive-by settlement it was a fast moving it was it was a a wham bam thank you ma'am and we're not happy so you know one of the things is dividing us I appreciate the time that you know the Angels into his hard work and and and Kyra and her and her dad to be there that's not that's a huge statement that when this case came out I was shocked I was blindsided by the by the announcement so you know it's one of those things where you know I have a perspective that moving back to Manitoba it's like I stepped into a time warp and I'm going to make sure that I do everything I can in my power to help with the case and that we all need to work together and sort of you know tell Canada that you know you know I'm not just from Canada I'm from California and I have a huge diverse background with with a lot of things but I know kind of that moving back here was a was a huge maneuver for me it was hard on me but at the same time you know it's just a time for to get you get together and be able to have people like Robert on TV doing the the groundwork for for for our people it's it's got to happen and Canada needs to know that's got to happen and and I don't want to be divided into groups unfortunately I didn't know what matey were so my learning experience coming back here and and we'll go from there so thanks for taking my call Stewart we appreciate you calling in and for all the speaking that you've been doing since you've returned to Manitoba you're a recognizable face to many of us here on this issue Robert anything you wanted to pick up on there that you've heard from the three of our our guests well I want to thank Stewart also for having the strength and to move that whole thing forward for and just some of the things that I've heard this afternoon I am happy to say that in Saskatchewan 60 scooped survivors First Nations non-status and makey are all working together we're all working together and a 60 scoop survive and digit survivors the Saskatchewan and so that's the first thing I want to say so you know what we are a resident group and we are actually organizing chapters all over the all over the province I would also add that this isn't an easy easy topic to deal with but why doesn't Canada and and Cisco widened Saskatchewan just you know work together come out together with a joint Steve and all the provinces and and really make this a reconciliation moment you know but no you have to divide and conquer people again and and and as a result of that you see some of the emails telling us people telling us to get our act together and you know Harry Daniels off your shortest away when you look at what we what really happens at a community level when something happens is when a community leader with a community based support actress's enough is enough and that's what Harry Daniels has done and that's what we're doing now and we're seeing that looked you know thank you David Chartrand for you words in Saskatchewan we didn't hear nothing from the made a nation of Saskatchewan we waited for it we wanted it we didn't hear nothing so you know what I I finally said enough was enough our making people are suffering in Saskatchewan they're they're making us fight over money and so you know the only time again as I as I repeated to this make you 60 scoop survivors First Nations in any way we will deal with our own issues we have done a heavy lifting and we're going to continue moving forward our agenda and administer Bennett and premier mo of Saskatchewan should get ready because we have the the determination the motivation and the education to deal with this issue and we're not going to stop until we see two words justice and respect we were in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago for the show on child welfare there and the big summit being hosted by the federal government and Kara I'm wondering as someone who worked in the child welfare system advocating for families if you're seeing any similarities between the 60 scoop and what people are calling the Millennial scoop similarities most definitely I think when you use the term similarity it actually takes away from it's the same thing happening everything that the government has has done has removed our children from their homes and we're still seeing it today you know it's in my family we have residential school survivors 60 scoop survivors when my grandfather's went to sanatorium there's all these really horrifying and traumatic experiences that family members of mine have have been through and and we're just trying to get through it we're trying to heal and get that respect that my father's talking about and the recognition and really that's that's what it's about is Canada recognizing what they're doing still today and the Millennium scoop it is happening and they are still taking our children and and as we sit here today you know it's still happening so I we're gonna go to a break here quickly or soon but I'm wondering if we could grab one more caller quickly and Bill Stewart who's now I understand in BC was scooped from his family and Ontario bill can you hear us thank you thanks for taking my call thanks for calling go ahead sorry thank you Robert for taking this on and and because I read completely is the only way to get this government to take us seriously is to go out them head on then so you know I I was I was looking at it that you know someone needs to do this and I myself I don't think I could I could I could stand through the process of it they don't for all thank you thank you so much for doing this I you know I some the points that you were making earlier some of the things you took off social media like people were saying we need to we need to really define what we want as a settlement from this government in order in order to you know to get some kind of response and I think that's something that the National Indigenous survivors of child welfare Network is doing a good job and creating that that consensus you know I think I think we're gonna like part of the reason why it took so long to get where we are is because the Harper government just delayed and delayed at the late the Ontario case by appealing it and now with the you know I'm not a fan of the Trudeau government but at least they're engaging in some way although I'm not I don't feel they're really reconciling at all I think they're just still trying to get away with the same policies and not really taking responsibility and we have to coerce them on that and I and I think one I just want to make one other point I think before or I think that the one thing we have to keep in mind is that that this government is very sensitive to international pressure and international perception and the UN how the UN perceives them and that's one thing that we can do by bringing attention of what's going on to the UN that helps apply pressure if we look how this played out Justin Trudeau made his famous speech to the UN on September 20th 21st 2017 acknowledging the treatment of indigenous peoples in Canada but what he done is he signed this agreement August 30th and so he goes and he makes that speech September 21st and then October 6 he announces this announcement and it's like you know it's like a magic trick on his part would fall off and he's using us in political theater to get what he wants from the UN and I think we can use that against him that's that's Dutch you know I don't know Duane Duane might have more to say on that because experience well bill we appreciate your call we're gonna have to leave it there so we do have to head to break but thanks so much for calling in and sharing your voice with us and we are gonna head to break so we'll be back in just a few minutes to come continue the conversation and welcome back to InFocus we are running a bit short on time so we'll head out to a Duane in Ottawa and Duane your organization is called for a day of solidarity what are your hopes for March 16th well we're really hoping and pushing for the Government of Canada to invite us to a meeting with the minister and to articulate our concerns about the agreement and also to move forward on a consultation process possibly a national roundtable that would bring in the 60s cube organizations that are formed a one that Robert spoke to you about in Saskatchewan and one in Alberta and there is one in Manitoba and I believe there's one being formed in Quebec we are hoping that that's part of the part of the outcomes of this gap of this rally the other thing is that we are trying to form community and we're also getting 60 scape survivors to sign the opposition form that we have with our campaign and our website for that is sick geez scoop United calm and people can go there to sign a petition but also sign the opposition form and there's some information queues and nays on there or regarding that so we're really wanting to put the pressure and to ensure that our voices are heard that we are heard and and so this is sort of the trajectory that we're going right now and Duane while we still have you there in Ottawa you know the group has been critical of the the compensation the funding that was announced especially given that lawyers look to be taking away about seventy five million or so here if you don't mind sharing your thoughts on all of that with us well I mean I think if you look at the the the some of the stuff that happened to most of us you've heard stories from Robert and there are many stories out there that talk about you know there was sexual abuse there was physical abuse there was forced labor there was loss of human potential I mean even access to our treaty rights and mating rights and Inuit rights like these things were not part we didn't have access to so I mean I heard a couple weeks ago call me and Rashad talked about the the fact that she paid for her own education but she was treating Indian it should have had access to those to those treaty rights and so when you look at the formula and you look at the amounts that are that are being put on the table and sort of the the damages that have have been caused to 60 Scoop survivors those don't seem to match and so I think people are really wanting I think the real issue here is that the full story isn't really being told and so there's there's this this this lawsuit that's talking about cultures and culture and loss of culture but it's much more than that so I think when you look at the entire agreement the the money that's being allocated is miniscule compared to the damages that we suffered on behalf of Canada and also when we look at the law firms that are receiving you know in the amount 275 million dollars that really just puts everything into perspective as who's benefiting from this agreement and so you know those are really hard things to sort of swallow if you are sixty scream survivor that have gone through years and years and years of trauma and loss of potential and loss of connection to your family communities and you know we think about this you know from a from a collective but on a personal from personal perspective we've lost so much and so you know we hear that people say no amount of money will ever put that into play because I think there needs to be some proper financial compensation that will enable us to be able to sort of carry on and do the healing that we need to do to maybe go forward on some of our aspirations that we sort of thought about way back when and so I think that's something that we're giving thought to and bringing it back here to Winnipeg and we'll just welcome Paige who's joining us here on the desk is we have three generations here now on the desk with us and Robert you know we talk about financial compensation and no amount but can you talk about you know what your suit is is seeking including the apology from the Saskatchewan government well you know a number of things that were seeking we're seeking an apology first and foremost I think may t60 scoop survivors the First Nations in anyone want to tell their story just like journey Indian Residential school process they want to tell their story that's part of healing and they want that opportunity to do that the other thing is you know when you look at when you look at the numbers of the current settlement to 750 million dollars and I think the federal government is under estimating how many people are out there they're saying that their base is twenty-five thousand that they want to pay everybody that's the lowest they want to pay and that they would top it up but if they get a hundred thousand people their math isn't making any sense they're only going to be able to pay people seventy five hundred dollars so there has to be people have to rethink this and that's just for for First Nations and Inuit the main key as I have said in my previous press statements I'm going to let the courts decide this we're gonna argue our case is very eloquently there are now two more cases in Saskatchewan my sister Jolene and my sister are legal liberties from Green Lake and and I think Dwayne is is correct and I want to thank doing back more so for all of the great work that the people in Ottawa have done to help this to organize in Saskatchewan but but at the end of the day there is no money that can bring my grandfather back to told me he loves me but you look at this I want Prime Minister Trudeau a minister Bennett and all the premiers is the sketch shows of kinda to see this this is my family we're strong now my daughter is educated this is the next generation and I'm educated and we've made our way back to RIA culture eight ourselves in to our culture's and and I'm happy to say that our families are getting stronger and the 60 scoop survivors in Canada the people that I know were united and and and we're gonna see this through we aren't gonna see this through we mentioned earlier Kerry did work for the Assembly America Chiefs family advocate in here seeking your masters and social work now do you do you see a day where this were a future government is apologizing for the practices of today the so-called millennial school yes there will be the need for an apology there's a need for an apology today I mean there's situations happening single day where children are not growing up in their families in their communities and it is at the detriment of of our children and you know the future generations there is huge impacts to what happens when you remove children you know the government owes me an apology because I didn't get to grow up around my kokum my aunties my uncle they the government owes my daughter an apology because she has a great grandmother that she doesn't get to spend nearly enough time with and and that that's really saddening actually that you know the government is going to have to apologize for the things that are happening today and for the things that have happened already so yes they will Oh an apology to our families well I want to thank everybody for being here today in studio Robert drew sent his eldest daughter Kyra Paige who joined us as well and in our Ottawa studio Dwayne more so back Wayne thanks again for taking the time out there to be with us as well and we'll be back again next week for another episode of InFocus Wednesday 2:00 p.m. Central Time appreciate you taking the time to join us today soaring to the colors we couldn't get to but the conversation continues online so have a great day

Channel: APTN News

Views: 1,894

Rating: 4.6666665 out of 5

Keywords: APTN infocus, 60s Scoop, indigenous, metis, non-status, metis nation, saskatchewan, doucette, kyra wilson

Id: Pu74S-MaqRg

Length: 51min 10sec (3070 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 08 2018