Jessie Waldron, a survivor of the Indian day school system, asked the Supreme Court of Canada to reopen the day school settlement on behalf of other survivors who had problems obtaining their full compensation. The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed a request from a federal Indian day school survivor to appeal a lower court ruling related to a multi-billion dollar settlement agreement she said left survivors like her shortchanged and retraumatized.
"I'm really feeling heartbroken because it was just not only for myself, but for others that were not given the professional help that they required at the time of their claims." After hearing from survivors who hired their own lawyers, Waldron hired outside legal counsel to resubmit her claim. It was refused by the claims administrator Deloitte.Survivors were eligible for five levels of compensation, ranging from $10,000 for verbal and physical abuse to $200,000 for repeated sexual abuse. Each level of claim required more detail and corroborative evidence.
Her lawyers argued there should be flexibility built into class actions involving people who were abused as children. They said the disproportionate number of level one claims should have raised red flags.