NATIONAL MCLEAN DAY SCHOOL CLASS ACTION

CLAIMANT INFORMATION UPDATE May 21, 2013 1. WHAT IS A DAY SCHOOL?

Throughout Canada Day Schools were established on or near Indian reserves and Inuit or Mtis communities to provide education to Indian, Inuit and Mtis children and the purpose of the day schools was to kill the Indian in the child. In 2009, at the direction of Spiritwind Manitoba, Joan Jack Law Office filed the claim in the Manitoba Court of Queens Bench (CI 09-01-62181) and, from 2009 to 2012, with the assistance of many grassroots volunteers and some First Nation governments, Joan and her staff were able to collect Initial Contact Forms from thousands of Indian, Inuit and Mtis day school survivors who have now registered with this claim. In the fall of 2012, even with the volunteer contributions and minimal financial contributions (approximately $60,000.00) received in 2011, Joan Jack could not financially sustain the claim on her own any longer. Consequently, for the good of her employees, her people and in order to take the claim forward, Joan closed her law firm and accepted the offer to join Alghoul & Associates as Special Counsel as a means to take the claim forward. Since then, Louay Alghoul has expended significant resources of his firm to continue the work on the day school class action. At Alghoul, in addition to other areas of the law, the Alghoul Team also handles Indian Residential School IAP claims and Aboriginal Law in general.

2. NEXT STEPS FOR IRS & DAY SCHOOL SURVIVORS

2.1 Grassroots Organizing - We must become our own champions! No one knows your
story better than you and we are family. We suggest you organize around the school you attended and you decide how you would like to take your cause for justice forward with each other and with Alghoul.

2.2 Filing a Class Action

When there is a group of people harmed and they decide to sue whomever they say harmed them, their lawyers try to find as many people in the group(s) harmed and prepare the legal arguments to establish that their claim is valid. Thats why its a class action law suit, because the group or groups are called classes where those in the class (group) suffered similar harm and thus receive similar compensation.
200-286 Smith Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 1K4 Tel: (204) 942.8070 Toll Free: (877) 378.4487 Fax: (204) 775.0902

~2~ The process of establishing the class action claim as a valid claim requiring compensation to those who suffered is called seeking a Motion to Certify and that happens when a Judge hears both sides of the legal arguments and says, basically, that the class action claim is valid, or not. Once the class action claim is judged as valid and the classes are established, typically, in Canada, all class action lawsuits are resolved through negotiations and result in a Settlement Agreement like the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA). The national day school class action Joan Jack Law Office filed in 2009 has NOT been certified and Alghoul & Associates is continuing to research the classes (groups) and schools and this is a long process because there were thousands of students who say they went to residential schools that were denied, and there are day scholars and day school students all over Canada that did not received compensation under the IRSSA. There is NO Day School Settlement Agreement resulting in compensation for day scholars or day school students yet.

3. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL STUDENT, DAY SCHOLAR AND A DAY SCHOOL STUDENT?
3.1 RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL STUDENT
- under the existing Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), only those survivors that can prove that they attended one of the schools listed as Residential Schools. To see the list, go to: http://www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca/schools.html mentioned above, but they only went to the school DURING THE DAY. This group of students has become known, as day scholars because, although they didnt get the Common Experience Payment, but were entitled to file an ABUSE claim through the IRSSA before the September 19, 2012.

3.2 DAY SCHOLARS are those who attended one of the Residential Schools on the list

3.3 DAY SCHOOL STUDENTS are those students now claiming they were harmed at
STAND ALONE day schools situated on or near their reserves, Mtis or Inuit communities. Day School students did NOT go to any of the residential schools that are listed in the IRSSA, but attended the day schools that operated at the SAME TIME AND FOR THE SAME PURPOSE; which, from the evidence we have heard, was to kill the Indian in the child.

3.4 DOES THE McLEAN DAY SCHOOL CLASS ACTION COVER BOTH DAY SCHOLARS AND
Most likely, but were not sure yet because work for the Motion to Certify is not complete.
DAY STUDENTS?

4. ALGHOUL & ASSOCIATES MOVING FORWARD

LOUAY ALGHOUL &/OR JOAN JACK will continue traveling to communities as Joan has done for the last three years to help the people affected understand the difference between the Indian Residential School Settlement, Residential Schools not included, Day Scholars and Day School Students and to help their clients continue seeking justice. To book a Workshop in your community or region Call Kathleen or Destiny Toll Free at 1-877-378-4487
200-286 Smith Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 1K4 Tel: (204) 942.8070 Toll Free: (877) 378.4487 Fax: (204) 775.0902