Utoo Radio with Other News Sources, September 24, 2024 - Lawyers handling a class-action lawsuit over the operation of boarding homes for Indigenous students expect around 700 claims from the NWT.

The claims process opened last month following a $1.9 billion settlement agreement with Ottawa.

The "Indian Boarding Homes Program" was created by the Government of Canada. It placed an estimated 40,000 Indigenous youth in private family homes for the purpose of attending school.

Klein Lawyers, the Toronto firm handling the class action since 2018, says the federal government acknowledges that "bad things happened" during the program.

The claims process will take six to eight months. Gerri Sharpe, an Indigenous student, filed a claim for both her placement and the abuse suffered.

Klein Lawyers says families were paid by the Government of Canada to house children, making the boarding home program a source of revenue for many.