By Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wakaw Recorder Ottawa has reached a proposed settlement agreement with Indigenous survivors of the segregated health facilities known as “Indian hospitals” to provide individual compensation ranging from $10,000 to $200,000. Tens of thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients, including children, were admitted to the overcrowded, poorly staffed and unsanitary institutions. Survivors speak of physical and sexual abuse from hospital staff, along with forcible confinement to beds without a medical reason and being subject to medical experiments. Two such hospitals operated in Saskatchewan at Fort Qu’Appelle and in North Battleford. A deal announced on Thursday, March 6, aims to resolve a $1.1 billion class-action lawsuit on behalf of former patients from a decades-long segregated health-care system that was plagued by widespread mistreatment…
Register
