The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Executive is pleased that the Federal Government is taking steps towards reconciliation by offering to settle with the Indigenous survivors who were stolen from their families as children during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The FSIN, however, remains cautious until they learn about all of the details from the settlement agreement.

“We need to learn from the Indian Residential School settlement and take the best practices from there and build upon it,” says FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron. “Many of our people who survived the sixties scoop lost their Indigenous identity, culture, and languages.”

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According to the FSIN, the sixties scoop practice was most popular in Saskatchewan, with numbers varying across the provinces of Canada. Recent research suggests that more than 20,000 Indigenous children were removed from their homes with some being sent abroad, as far away as New Zealand.

Jackie Maurice is just one of thousands of 60's scoop survivors eligible for the settlement from the federal government. Stock photo

“We will hope to see an inclusive agreement that leaves no one behind,” says Chief Cameron. “We need an agreement that will provide strong support with mental health and reconciliation of families and Nations, we cannot stress enough that this should not leave anyone out.”

There is no amount of money that could ever repair the damages that our survivors endured, says Cameron.

The federal government says it will take some time before it issues an official apology. In June 2015, then-Premier Brad Wall told reporters an apology would be forthcoming from the Province of Saskatchewan; that apology has still not been issued.