Press Release
January 21, 2025
THUNDER BAY, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, on behalf of the Executive Council, fully supports Survivors of the notorious St. Anne’s Residential School as their legal battles with the Government of Canada continue this week at a virtual hearing in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
“We are asking for the continued support for the Survivors of St. Anne’s as they once again seek to hold Canada accountable. It is unconscionable that Canada continues to fight the Survivors instead of doing the right thing, and we stand beside them in solidarity and strength,” said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. “We hope that the court will dismiss Canada’s latest attempt to block the merits of this case on procedural grounds and let the Survivors proceed forward on the Request for Direction they are seeking (Metatawabin RFD#2). I ask that if you can, please listen to this week’s hearing and keep the Survivors in your thoughts throughout the week in their fight against the latest in a long line of injustices by Canada in this case.”
“It has taken incredible strength and courage for the Survivors who came forward to speak about the horrific abuses they suffered at St. Anne’s and speak their truth. It has been a long and difficult journey to endure for the Survivors in their pursuit to obtain justice for the wrongs done to them while at St. Anne’s as children. To be further wronged by parties to a process established to provide them access to justice,” said Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum. “Today, and in the following days, this week we stand with Dr. Edmund Metatawabin and St. Anne’s Survivors who continue to fight. We also ask the Creator to answer their prayers for justice.”
“Together, we stand in solidarity with the brave Survivors of St. Anne’s, who have endured unimaginable horrors and injustices. We demand that the government of Canada take immediate action to release all documents related to the heinous crimes committed against these innocent children,” said Deputy Grand Chief Mike Metatawabin. “It is time for truth, accountability, and justice. We will not rest until the survivors receive the closure and compensation they deserve. Their voices will no longer be silenced, and their stories will no longer be hidden. We are united in our pursuit of truth and our support for the Survivors of St. Anne’s.”
Dr. Edmund Metatawabin represents a group of St. Anne’s claimants to the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) whose IAP claims were breached because Canada failed to comply with its mandatory disclosure and reporting obligations under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement for the original hearing process.
Members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend the virtual court hearing this week to show support for St. Anne’s Survivors.
Dates: January 20-24, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. EST
Zoom Link: https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/63629859925?pwd=I8b2l4gSa3bkEkO2BVfHc71wb9aziu.1
Meeting ID: 636 2985 9925
Passcode: 452032
BACKGROUND
St. Anne’s Requestors filed the Request for Direction (RFD) on August 11, 2023, and it seeks to compel Canada to comply with Ontario Superior Court of Justice Ancillary Orders of January 14, 2014, and June 23, 2015.
St. Anne’s was the most notorious of the 139 church-operated, government-funded Residential Schools across Canada. St. Anne’s operated from 1902-1976 and was run by the Roman Catholic mission involving the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Grey Nuns of the Cross in Fort Albany First Nation on the remote James Bay coast. St. Anne’s was the site of widespread sexual and horrific physical abuse of children and operated under federal Indian Residential School policy.
For more information please contact:
Michael Heintzman,
Director of Communications
Cell: (807) 621-2790
mheintzman@nan.ca
ILR5