Ottawa still fighting lawsuit from Newfoundland residential-school survivors

The federal Justice Department has sent a clear signal that Ottawa intends to fight a lawsuit brought by former residential school students in Newfoundland and Labrador to the end.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould have said the government would carefully review the case – which has become an example of the fraught relationship between indigenous peoples and the Canadian government, and of drawn-out court battles.

In a letter on Monday to an assistant to Justice Robert Stack of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Justice Department says it wishes to give its opening statement of defence on Feb. 1, and will probably need 17 additional days, spread over several weeks, to present its two expert witnesses on the history and on government documents covering the period in question, before concluding on March 4 – bringing to a close the trial portion of a lawsuit that began in 2007.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ottawa-continues-to-fight-lawsuit-from-newfoundland-residential-school-survivors/article28140052/