Residential school survivor questions why compensation claim denied

Sapp submitted his claim in 2020. He said he received a letter on May 1 of 2020, stating they would reply to him within 60 days. But he didn’t receive the letter indicating his claim was denied until May 2022. The deadline to respond to the decision was July 2022, so Sapp believes he didn’t have enough time to seek recourse.

“Apparently, they didn’t recognize the school name. But they didn’t give me a Reconsideration letter to fix my mistake,” he said.

“I felt I was re-victimized,” he added. “It got to the point where I almost gave up. It caused me a great deal of stress.”

Sapp questions he wasn’t given more support because he chose to submit his claim directly himself, without going through a lawyer to represent him.

“All my siblings, all my brothers and sisters, attended the same school, and they all got compensated,” he said. “I filled out my application because no one really supported me; nobody really approached me on it.”

Sapp also wonders if he had sought a lower level of compensation, he might have had success.

“The first level, you didn’t need a declaration for $10,000. Like, here’s $10,000. No questions asked. That’s what I believe they were aiming for, for everybody to just take the $10,000,” he said.

Sapp submitted his claim for the second level of compensation, valued at $50,000.

He said he suffered significant abuse at the day school, including having his ears pulled while his head was banged against the wall, on many occasions.

“That was a regular occurrence,” he said.

Today, Sapp isn’t giving up.

“I am looking for legal action,” he said. “I’m trying to get this corrected, so nobody else has to go through this.”

Sapp added the reason he is pursuing this matter with such determination is because he wants to be able to pay for his son’s post-secondary education, to grant him “a brighter future.”

A spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada provided a statement to battlefordsNOW in response to Sapp’s complaint.

“The Poundmaker Federal Day School (eligible for compensation from 1879 to September 1, 1983) was operating as a Kindergarten only as of the 1974-75 school year, as the students were attending the Pehtokahanopewin, also known as Pehtok, band-operated school. The federal school at Poundmaker continued to operate as a Kindergarten until 1983, when control of the school transferred to the Band.

“Mission schools, joint schools, provincial and territorial schools, and band-operated schools are not eligible for compensation through this settlement, as Canada was not responsible for the administration of these schools. Students from the Poundmaker community attended a number of schools operated by Canada, the Province of Saskatchewan, and the Poundmaker and Little Pine First Nations.”

The statement continued, saying while it’s not able to speak to individual claims, if a claimant has evidence they have been wrongfully denied compensation, they should have the class action legal counsel or their own legal counsel respond.

On whether the school he attended was operated by the band, Sapp said a band-operated school should also been covered for compensation, since it would be have been federally-funded regardless.

“All the people that went to [this] school, there were compensated,” he said. “There are four Poundmaker schools on the list . All the Poundmaker schools are paid out.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

Residential school survivor questions why compensation claim denied

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