Survivors to get CEP and an apology.

October has been a pretty busy month on the residential school front.

First, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine arrived in Edmonton on Oct. 3 to present residential school survivor Mary Moonias with a letter certifying that she will be the first of an estimated 80,000 former students to receive a common experience payment as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA).

Then, on Oct. 16, Gov. Gen Michaelle Jean presented a throne speech in Ottawa in which the federal government of the day announced its plans to issue a formal apology for its roll in the residential school system, with that apology to be timed to coincide with the launch of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Another facet of the IRSSA, the commission will work to promote awareness of the residential schools and their legacy among the Canadian public, and will also provide people affected by the residential schools-former students, their family members and their communities-with a forum for sharing their experiences.

While no date has been set for launch of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the process of finding a chairperson and commissioners for the organization is underway. Even if the launch of the commission is still months away, the timing for the apology is still a big improvement over what was being offered up by Jim Prentice, the former minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), who just this spring, estimated it would be another five years before Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government would be ready to say they're sorry. Under the plan put forward by Prentice, the government would wait until after it heard the recommendations coming out of the Truth and Reconciliation process. Now it's ready to apologize before the process even begins. So why the change of heart?

Chuck Strahl, the current INAC minister, said it's all about timing and that it's important that the prime minister's apology come at the beginning of the Truth and Reconciliation process, to "address this sad chapter of our history."

To his credit, Strahl said the apology would "address" the sad chapter that is residential schools. The book analogy is very popular with people discussing residential schools but, unlike the INAC minister, others have talked about the IRSSA "closing" the residential school chapter or "turning the page" on it. I'm imagining there are a number of residential school survivors-and their family members-who would take exception to those types of statements. Common experience payments and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are positive moves to help heal the pain and suffering caused by the residential school system, but it's going to take more than a few cheques and a public awareness campaign or two to make things all better.

At one time or another, almost every problem plaguing Aboriginal people in Canada has been blamed on the residential school system, and rightly so. Many students who went into residential school came back out with no knowledge of their language, no connection with their culture, no bonds with their families, and no self-esteem. If that isn't a recipe for dysfunction, I don't know what is.

Many survivors have said the IRSSA is finally allowing the healing to begin, but the promise of a couple of billion dollars being divided among residential school survivors is in itself causing some concerns in the Aboriginal community.

Some people are shocked and angered by the businesses that are coming out of the woodwork, anxious to get their hands on some of that CEP money. Others are shocked and angered by the paternalistic attitude that has reared its head in anticipation of the compensation payouts, with people and organizations clambering to save survivors from themselves by telling them just what they should be doing with their compensation dollars.

Here's a thought--they're residential school survivors. If they managed to make it through residential school, and all the things life has had to throw at them since, maybe receiving a few thousand dollars is something they can handle all on their own.