Indian Residential Schools Personal Credits for Education Program extended
- EFN Staff | December 18, 2014
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde is
pleased with today's court decision to extend the deadlines for the
Indian residential schools personal credits for education program, and
wants to see existing administrative concerns addressed quickly so that
residential schools survivors can more easily access the program.
"I'm
pleased that all parties to the Settlement Agreement have agreed to
extend the deadlines and that residential schools survivors will now
have additional time to apply to the personal credits program," said AFN
National Chief Perry Bellegarde. "The Assembly of First Nations has
pressed for this extension in response to the serious administrative
concerns expressed by survivors and family members across the country.
The extension does not solve all the challenges of the program, but it
will allow us more time to continue to offer support to survivors
interested in using the credits for education programs and services."
New
deadline dates will be determined once the court order is signed by all
parties, but today's court ruling will allow for a two month extension
from the date of the court order to submit the personal credits
acknowledgement form and a five month extension from the date of court
order to submit the personal credits redemption forms. All education
programs and services must be concluded by August 31, 2015.
"Despite
the administrative challenges, it is important to acknowledge that
there are many survivors and family members using creative approaches to
setting up initiatives to strengthen language, culture and healing,"
said AFN NWT Regional Chief Bill Erasmus who leads the work of the AFN
Executive Committee in the area of residential schools. "AFN's goal is
to help ensure every CEP recipient has the information they need to
apply for the personal credits, including exploring all options whether
it be giving it to a family member or contributing to a group
initiative."
As of December 4, 2014, approximately
24,000 of approximately 79,000 eligible Common Experience Payment
recipients had submitted applications.
The personal credits for education program, offered by the Government of Canada is the final phase of compensation to Indian residential school survivors as set out in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) of 2007. For more information and resources please visit www.afn.ca or direct link at www.afn.ca/index.php/en/personal-credits.
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