Independent Assessment Process Information Update

May 31, 2010

The Independent Assessment Process (IAP) is a claimant-centred, non-adversarial, out of court process for the resolution of claims of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, and other wrongful acts suffered at Indian Residential Schools (IRS).

The IAP is one element of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which is the largest class action settlement in Canadian history and aims to bring a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of residential schools. The court-approved Settlement Agreement was negotiated by representatives from various Aboriginal organizations, church representatives, legal representatives for former students, and the Government of Canada.

• Over 16,000 applications have been received since September 2007. IAP applications will be accepted until September 19, 2012.
• 90% of claimants have legal counsel. All parties to the Settlement Agreement encourage claimants to have counsel.
• 5,800 hearings have been held to date, and over 60 hearings are being held every week.
• Over 5000 claimants have been compensated.
• Over $615 million has been awarded (including legal costs).

Key Trends

• The volume of applications remains steady. Approximately 430 applications are received each month. About 91% of applications are admitted to the process.
• To date, the majority of claims have come from the Western provinces, with the greatest number from Alberta (3,530 new IAP applications).
• The largest source of delay in the hearings process is the submission of mandatory documents by the parties. Currently, 2,523 have been in the document collection stage for more than nine months.
• 2,493 decisions were released last year, and the number continues to increase. With the recent hiring of 22 additional adjudicators, the number of hearings will continue to rise while the time it takes to produce the decision will continue to decline.

Key Initiatives

• A full range of support services are available for all claimants. Elders and Resolution Health Support Workers attend hearings to provide spiritual and emotional support to claimants. 24-hour crisis counseling is available. The Adjudication Secretariat will pay for two support people, of the claimant’s choice, to attend the hearing with them.
• Hearings are being scheduled more efficiently, to help process claims in a timely way for all claimants. This allows adjudicators and parties to reduce the amount of time travelling and increase the amount of time spent working on claims.
• In early January 2010, Short Form Decisions became available for some claimants in the IAP. This voluntary option allows claimants to forego a lengthy written decision, which takes longer to produce. About 25% of claimants choose the short form decision, which is offered to claimants with legal counsel in the standard track, when all parties agree on the key elements of the decision. This gives claimants the option of receiving a final decision as early as possible following the hearing, or waiting for a full decision with a detailed narrative of the evidence.
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has committed to paying awards within 50 days after a decision is received, 80% of the time.

Challenges

• The IAP relies on medical, educational and income documents to support the claims, and these documents must be submitted before a hearing date is offered. The Adjudication Secretariat continues to examine ways to help the parties improve their document production. For example, we are meeting with federal and provincial officials to negotiate ways to speed up document requests.

Going forward

• The Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat remains committed to implementing and administering the IAP under the direction of the Chief Adjudicator in an independent, objective and impartial manner.
• We expect to hold 3350 to 3,800 hearings in the next 12 months.
• Additional information regarding the Independent Assessment Process is available at http://www.iap-pei.ca or by calling 1-866-879-4913.