NDP, Green Party call for new law to fix problems with Indigenous class action lawsuit settlements

The federal NDP and Green Party are calling on the federal government to introduce a new law similar to one used by the U.S. for 9/11 victims to address problems with six Indigenous class action lawsuit settlement agreements.

Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout and Green Party Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedneault sent a letter to three federal ministers on Wednesday urging them to create an Indigenous Survivors Act.

The proposed legislation would allow First Nations, Métis and Inuit survivors mistreated by the federal government to apply for compensation and update their claims under the act after deadlines pass in their class action settlement agreements.

«The fact that the government of Canada mistreated Indigenous Peoples is one thing,» Idlout and Pedneault wrote in a letter obtained by CBC News, adding that the «strict deadlines imposed for claims to be completed» is just another in a «long list of injustices.»

Idlout and Pedneault said there are precedents for such a move, including the U.S. government's 9/11 victim compensation fund, which has a deadline that extends to 2090.

They also point to Ontario's compensation plan for the contaminated blood scandal, which provided up to $25,000 to people who developed hepatitis C through tainted blood before 1986 and after 1990, without any deadline to apply.

Greens and NDP say claims processes too short

Their letter was sent to Justice Minister Arif Virani, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is also deputy prime minister.

The offices of the three ministers did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.

The proposal follows a CBC News investigation that uncovered allegations that federal Indian day school survivors were