60s Scoop Class Action Progress Report

add ADOPTION

Ph: 1-844-287-4270    |   sixtiesscoop@collectiva.ca

December 2023: Progress Review 

As 2023 comes to an end, we would like to reiterate our commitment to finalizing the claims administration phase of this class action. Our goal remains that each Eligible Class Member receives their compensation.

With more than 99% of the total number of claims received having been processed under the terms of the settlement, we are actively working to resolve those applications that remain in process. The Claim Statistics Table will continue to be the source for updates in 2024.

We wish everyone peace and comfort in the coming weeks.

On all other days, the call centre will be open, and voice messages can be left when calls are received outside of regular business hours. The phone number is 1-844-287-4270 and our email is  SIXTIESSCOOP@COLLECTIVA.CA.

If at any time you are dealing with trauma or need support, please do not hesitate to contact the Hope for Wellness Helpline for counselling: at 1-855-242-3310 or online at www.hopeforwellness.ca. Counselling is available in English, French, Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut on request.

If you are in British Columbia, you can contact the First Nations and Aboriginal Helpline offered by the KUU-US Crisis Line Society toll-free at 1-800-588-8717.

***Not every claim will follow a straight path from assessment to approval or denial. Some claims will be assessed and reassessed more than one time, as new information is requested and received. View the claims process

 OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS:

https://sixtiesscoopsettlement.info/official-documents/

VIDEO:

https://sixtiesscoopsettlement.info/sixtiesscoop-english-master-1280x720/  

NOTE:

The CLASS ACTION settlement for which the parties seek judicial approval provides for legal fees in the amount of $75 million. These amounts are over and above the compensation and Foundation amounts the Defendant is obliged to pay pursuant to the agreement.  The potential total value of the settlement is $880 million. 

When Brown v. Canada was commenced in Ontario in 2009, it was true pioneer litigation, the first of its kind anywhere in the country (Canada).  The claims in the action generally related to loss of cultural identity. No court in Canada has ever awarded damages for loss of cultural identity. In consequence, these claims were novel, and therefore there was significant risk with respect to the monetary value that a court may place on such loss.

Ontario Superior Court of Justice:
"Those eligible for compensation included not only Indian adoptees, as Justice Belobaba had ordered based upon the '65 Agreement, but also crown or permanent wards. …. The period of time to be eligible as a class member is double the period in the Brown v. Canada class definition.  It covers all survivors who were placed in non-indigenous homes from 1951 to 1991.  It eliminates the hardship for the class member who has no 'record' (ie. adoption or crown wardship orders) to prove her or his eligibility, shifting that burden to the governments."

This finding applies with full and equal force to this action and the largely untold history of the Sixties Scoop until these cases were brought.