A1. The Honourable Frank Iacobucci was chosen for his years of experience as a lawyer and as a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Iacobucci is highly regarded within both legal and academic circles and he has been given a mandate to take steps to resolve the legacy of Indian residential schools by negotiating a broad reconciliation package. He will lead discussions with legal counsel for former students, the Assembly of First Nations, and legal counsel for the Churches, as well as with other interested parties, toward a reconciliation package that will address payments to former students, commemoration, truth and reconciliation processes, and healing.

A2. Claims by former students through either the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process or litigation processes will continue as previously during the period of the discussions led by Mr. Iacobucci, and participation in either of these processes will not prejudice the ability of former students to take advantage of benefits which may arise from those discussions. The Government will continue to support former students who have chosen to pursue their claims through ADR or litigation processes, in accordance with the Government’s National Resolution Framework.

A3. Reaching a timely, lasting, and fair resolution of the legacy of Indian residential schools is our goal, and the Federal Representative will be working on an expedited basis with legal counsel for former students, the Assembly of First Nations, and other interested parties. He has been asked to submit his final recommendations by March 31, 2006.

A4. The Federal Representative has a full mandate to undertake discussions with key representatives of former students. Given the time constraints under which he is working, he will not be able to directly hold discussions with each of the thousands of former Indian residential school students, so legal counsel for former students will have a key role in these discussions.

A5. Given his mandate to submit his final recommendations by March 31, 2006, the Federal Representative will not be able to directly hold discussions with each of the thousands of former Indian residential school students, so he will concentrate on leading discussions with their legal as well as regional and national representatives.

The Government encourages former students to contact the representatives of their regional and national organizations if they have perspectives they wish to share concerning the discussions being led by the Federal Representative.

A6. The Political Agreement signed on May 30, 2005 between the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations sets out the basis on which they intend to work together on issues related to the resolution of the Indian residential schools legacy. More particularly, the Political Agreement sets out the role the Assembly of First Nations will play in the discussions led by the Federal Representative toward a broad reconciliation package which would include, among other things, “a payment to former students along the lines referred to in the AFN Report”.

A7. Continuing to support healing, and educating and bringing all Canadians together to understand the legacy of Indian residential schools, are all important parts of this resolution process. The Government committed $40 Million in this year’s budget to continue to support the important work of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and healing initiatives are one of the subjects for the discussions being led by the Federal Representative.