Supreme Court to decide whether residential school stories can be shredded
TORONTO — The future of the often heart-rending stories told by survivors of Canada’s residential schools will be decided by the country’s top court.
The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it would hear the federal government’s appeal of a decision that the highly personal accounts should be destroyed after 15 years — unless the individuals decide otherwise. The court also ruled Inuit representatives can take part in the case.
The federal government sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing it controls the documents and that they are subject to legislation related to privacy, access to information, and archiving.
The documents at issue relate to compensation claims made by as many as 30,000 survivors of Indian residential schools — many disturbing accounts of sexual, physical and psychological abuse.