Canada's top court dismisses federal Indian day school survivor's appeal

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.

Jessie Waldron, who attended the Waterhen Lake Indian Day School in northern Saskatchewan during the 1960s and 1970s, asked the top court for the right to amend her compensation claim with additional evidence of abuse.

The Cree day school survivor said she couldn't access legal assistance from Gowling WLG, the law firm hired to represent survivors in the$1.47-billion settlement agreement approved by the Federal Court in 2019 following a class-action lawsuit by day school survivors.

Waldron said she filed for the minimum $10,000 in compensation because she could never get through a legal hotline set up to help survivors.

She said the Supreme Court of Canada's dismissal dealt a blow to all day school survivors.

«I'm extremely disappointed by the outcome of their decision,» Waldron told CBC News.

«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.»

Hundreds of other survivors reported filing for the lowest category of compensation because they couldn't understand the compensation application and get advice on how to apply for the higher levels.

Waldron said that at one point, she drove 10 hours from her home in Grand Prairie, Alta. to Waterhen Lake, Sask. for a scheduled community visit with lawyers from Gowling. When she arrived, she said, she found out the meeting had been cancelled.

After hearing from survivors who hired their own lawyers, Waldron hired outside