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Residential Schools Settlement Agreement comes into effect Sept. 19

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Published on 
September 17, 2007

On Sept. 19, the Residential Schools Settlement Agreement comes into effect. The five-month opt-out period ended on Aug. 20, and former residential school students can apply for the Common Experience Payment or the Independent Assessment Process using forms that will soon be on the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada website.

Valérie Haché, media relations representative for Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, said it will take at least a month for the government to process claims. The first cheques will be issued in November.

The Anglican Church of Canada, which ran over 30 residential schools, participated in negotiating this settlement agreement, approved May 2006. The church is currently working alongside former residential schools students in programs like the Anglican Healing Fund.

Acknowledging the land and God’s creation

This acknowledgement is crafted in light of the Principles of Reconciliation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, as we seek to live faithfully in Christ and in right relationship with all. 

We give thanks to the Creator for this land, its waters, forests and all living beings, and for the abiding presence of Christ among us. From coast to coast to coast, these have been cared for and nurtured by First Nations, Inuit and Métis through countless generations. 

We honour the enduring relationship Indigenous Peoples have cultivated with these lands and waters, and the treaties and agreements that reflect these sacred bonds. We acknowledge the harms caused by colonial expansion, through frameworks like the Doctrine of Discovery and structures like the residential school system. We recognize our past failures as a Church, including disruption of connections to the land and suppression of Indigenous spiritualities. 

Guided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we confess our need for healing. We commit ourselves to seeking truth, pursuing reconciliation and nurturing harmony with all creation. We place our trust in Christ, through whom all things are reconciled to God. 

May God strengthen us to live faithfully as stewards of the Earth. Let us walk in love, justice and reconciliation, joining in God’s work to restore all creation.