Madam Speaker, we are committed to justice for all Indian residential school survivors. As the member well knows, our government has provided all the documents to the courts, those that have been asked for, when it comes to St. Anne's residential school. We are also working with those claims that were affected by the previous government's actions, to settle those in a fair and equitable way.
It is important to note that more than 95% of all claimants from St. Anne's have received compensation much higher than the national average for residential school claims. As the supervising court has made clear, “the evidence shows that Canada has kept its promise and continues to keep its promise.”
While most claims have been resolved, those few remaining do include the most difficult and challenging. Unfortunately, that has led to far too many court challenges.
As the administrator of the IRSSA, Canada has a duty to defend the integrity of the process and to ensure fairness for all participants. These cases have brought further clarity to the process, ensuring that all survivors are treated equitably and in the spirit of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement that was approved more than 12 years ago.
The legal fees referenced by the hon. member are an accounting of existing internal legal resources, which were dedicated to ensuring that claimants received the compensation they deserved and the integrity of the independent process. No outside fees have been incurred in any of the cases brought against Canada.
It is also important to note that Canada has never, and our government will never, seek legal costs against any individual claimant.
In exceptional circumstances, costs can be sought against lawyers who do not appear to be acting responsibly. Sadly, in one of the cases the member refers to, the court has stated that counsel's “repeated and deliberate attack on the integrity of this Court threatens to interfere with the administration of justice”. Baselessly attacking the credibility of the courts and of the independent assessment process that has handled more than 38,000 cases does a great disservice to survivors.
Counsel is responsible for the symbolic costs that have been awarded, and they will be donated to a fund that supports former students.
Our government has reached negotiated settlements to undo the harm caused by the previous government's unethical legal arguments, such as the so-called administrative split.
Our government has reached negotiated settlements to address claims of student-on-student abuse, which faced too high a legal bar to be fairly compensated.
We have repeatedly shown the willingness and desire to work closely with survivors to help them on their healing journey and to undo the terrible legacy Indian residential schools have left in Canada.
As the courts have said, the evidence is clear that our government has kept and is keeping its promise to residential school survivors.