TORONTO - The head of the commission into Indian residential schools resigned Monday over what he suggested was an internal leadership struggle, and the federal government responded by saying the move will be reviewed by the courts.
Justice Harry LaForme of the Ontario Court of Appeal was appointed in April as chairman of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is tasked with documenting the experiences of former students.
In a letter sent Monday to Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, LaForme said the commission is on the "verge of paralysis" because its commissioners do not accept his authority.
Strahl was not available for comment Monday. His spokesman Ted Yeomans said while the government remains committed to implementing the settlement agreement, it will first need guidance from the courts on LaForme's resignation.
"As this is a court-ordered settlement agreement, this resignation will need to be reviewed by the courts, and we await their direction on moving forward," Yeomans wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
The commission was set up June 1 as part of a $1.9-billion class-action settlement for the government-funded residential school system. For much of the last century, about 150,000 aboriginal students attended 130 church-run institutions, where many were abused physically, sexually and emotionally. It's estimated more than 80,000 former students are still alive.
The commission is expected to run for five years in hopes of encouraging former students and others affected by the tragic legacy to share their experiences in a culturally appropriate manner.
Officials with the commission couldn't immediately be reached for comment Monday. A spokesman for LaForme said he would not grant media interviews.
In his letter to Strahl, LaForme said the commission "will fail" in its current form.
"At the heart of it is an incurable problem," LaForme wrote.
"The two commissioners are unprepared to accept that the structure of the commission requires that the (commission's) course is to be charted and its objectives are to be shaped ultimately through the authority and leadership of its chair."
It's not the first time LaForme has publicly questioned the commission's operation.
In July, less than two months after it was struck, LaForme expressed concerns that political or bureaucratic interference could compromise the commission, and he said those concerns were delaying the panel's startup.
LaForme also said the panel cannot allow itself to be "shackled" by bureaucratic requirements, and that the commissioners, not government, must be able to decide how to spend their $58-million budget.
At the time, LaForme noted a potential for friction over the panel's independence. He said it came as "a surprise" to discover the feds had created a secretariat as a government department staffed by civil servants reporting to the minister of Indian affairs, instead of allowing the commission to set up its own office.
