An agreement to be signed with the federal government is the next step to a resolution for survivors of the Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) said Wednesday.

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The memorandum of understanding between the MN-S and the Canadian government will lay out a plan and process to come to a fair resolution for survivors and their families who were left out of a compensation agreement negotiated in the 1990s.

“For decades, survivors and their families have advocated passionately and fiercely for recognition of the students who attended that school,” MN-S president Glen McCallum said.

“We have had promise after promise by federal governments to address this issue. We can finally say the issue has been discussed in an open and honest manner and that our people will be properly recognized.”

Leonard Montgrand, a survivor of the school, said this was a historic day.

“I never thought we’d get to this point in my lifetime that we would be able to see compensation,” Montgrand said.

“It’s not only about the compensation that we receive,” Montgrand continued, “it’s also about the recognition and healing, and the truth and reconciliation that will follow.”

The school operated from the 1880s until the mid-1970s when it closed.

McCallum said there has been no compensation made to survivors for their loss of culture, language or traditions, or for abuses endured while in the school.

“I have personally endured the abuse of a residential school and I have spoken at length about the impacts,” McCallum said.

“It is impossible for people who have never attended to understand the impact. For those who endured and survived, the impact continues to this day.”

MN-S said the agreement will also address a class action suit filed against both the Saskatchewan and federal governments.

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