Family Members of Those Who Died at Residential Schools File Class Action Lawsuit

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Siblings and other family members of those who were forcibly removed and then died at one of Canada’s residential schools are reportedly planning to file a class action lawsuit against the federal government.  

Lead plaintiffs, Floyd and Violet Good Eagle say they each had older siblings they did not know about growing up – they died after being forcibly removed from their families and relocated to one of Canada’s residential schools. They say they are filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of other families who lost loved ones to Canada’s brutal assimilation policies concerning Indigenous peoples that spanned from the 1800s to the 1970s.  

Two of Floyd Good Eagle’s older brothers were forcibly removed from his parents. He told reporters that his father went to go see why they had not returned.  

“It must have been quite a shock for my dad and eventually my mom when he was told that ‘your boys are passed away and they’re buried in an unmarked grave someplace’. And then he was told, (if) he made anything more, wanted more information, he would actually get in trouble with the law,” he told 660 News.  

Violet Good Eagle’s older sister died at a residential school, but she says she was not told about her growing up.  

“I felt emotional. I went through grieving and getting angry. And I get emotional talking about it too,” she told reporters.  

The class action lawsuit comes as more and more mass grave sites are being uncovered at Canada’s former residential schools.  

The plaintiffs say that they want $200 million from Canada’s federal government to find the additional mass grave sites that almost surely exist across the nation and memorialize them. They also want counseling provided to family members who lost loved ones to a residential school.  

All I want on behalf of the other children, I’d like to see the people held accountable for what happened,” Floyd Good Eagle told 660 News. “Although, a lot of people have passed away, including the people that were directly responsible for it. All we want is a closure and to send the brothers and sisters to have a proper funeral, a proper burial to set their spirits free.” 

Four to six thousand of the 150,000 children who attended Canada’s residential schools died and more than a third of those deaths were not recorded by name, according to estimates by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  

The class action lawsuit alleges that officials at Canada’s residential schools often refused to provide family members with any information about their child’s death, regardless if it was wrongful or not.  

“[T]his made things worse because every family is then left with questions and has to deal with the possibility that their loved one was abused and killed by a system that they fear,” explained the plaintiffs’ lawyer to 660 News.  

Canada has settled class action lawsuits filed by survivors of residential and day schools.  

“The previous action was about those who survived the experience,” a lawyer representing the plaintiffs told reporters. “This one is about those who did not and their families.” 

Did you lose a loved one to Canada’s residential schools? Will you join this class action lawsuit? Tell us in the comment section below.  

The plaintiffs are represented by Matthew Farrell of the Guardian Law Group.  

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

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• Canada Proposes Settlement in Day Scholar Residential School Class Action Lawsuit
• Excluded Day School Survivors May Soon File New Class Action Against Canada
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