Settlement reached on residential school day scholars class-action lawsuit

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government involving hundreds of people left out of residential schools compensation.

The lawsuit was brought by Indigenous students known as "day scholars," who attended the notorious residential schools but returned to their homes at night.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett saidthe settlement will see survivors receive compensation of $10,000 each.

To address additional harms suffered by the students at the school, Ottawa will also invest $50 million into a Day Scholars Revitalization Fund.

Two survivors of the schools, Charlotte Gilbert and Diena Jules, saidthey are heartened to finally be recognized for the pain and horrors they endured at the schools after fighting for 14 years to receive compensation.

Jules, who attended the Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia, said she was treated as less than human, and saidit was not acceptable they were not included as part of the 2006 Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, which compensated students who did not go home at night.

This is a separate settlement from the 2019 settlement for former students of federal day schools,operated separately from residential schools butby many of the same groups that ran residential schools.