CBC News | Posted: July 9, 2025
Fund was named for survivor and lead plaintiff Garry McLean
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| Students at the grounds of the Cote Indian Day School, near Kamsack, Sask., in September 1958. (Library and Archives Canada) |
A
fund for projects for healing, language and cultural revitalization and
commemoration for day school survivors and their families is now
accepting applications.
is named after Garry McLean, a Manitoba-based advocate for Federal
Indian Day School survivors, who was the lead plaintiff in a class
action lawsuit against the Government of Canada. McLean died from cancer
in 2019 at the age of 67, just before a final settlement agreement was
reached.
Like
residential schools, Federal Indian Day Schools were designed to
assimilate Indigenous children while eradicating Indigenous languages
and cultures. There were 699 Federal Indian Day Schools across Canada
including one in Lake Manitoba First Nation, the Dog Creek Day School,
which Garry McLean attended. About 200,000 Indigenous children attended
day schools.
The
$1.47 billion settlement included a $200 million legacy fund. The McLean
Day Schools Settlement Corporation says the legacy fund was created to
support healing and wellness, language and culture preservation,
commemoration and truth-telling for survivors and their families.
"We
know the journey began with tremendous pain and with that pain comes a
powerful opportunity for healing, truth telling, revitalization of our
languages, strengthening our cultures, and enhancing the pride of our
identity," said Claudette Commanda, the settlement corporation's CEO, at
a news conference in Ottawa Monday.
 |
Elder
Gloria Wells, a board member with the legacy fund, said, "I strongly
believe that ceremony and our language and our culture will be the ones
to help us."
The first call for submissions for funding opened Monday. There are two categories: survivor committee establishment that is one-time funding of up to $25,000, and money for community programs, up to $100,000 or $250,000 a year for four years, depending on the type of program.
Southern
Chiefs Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, who was a friend of
McLean, said he was "a powerful voice for justice and a relentless
advocate for survivors of Indian Day Schools.... His efforts led to real
change for thousands of our people."
With
the launch of the legacy fund, "his legacy will continue to uplift
survivors and their families for generations to come," Daniels said.
The application deadline for the first round of funding is the end of September.
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