Metis, non-status Indians launch ’60s Scoop lawsuit over identity loss
TORONTO — Metis and non-status Indians across Canada are seeking damages for the alleged harms inflicted on them by the Canadian government during the ’60s Scoop, according to a proposed class action filed on Thursday.
In an untested statement of claim, the survivors of the Scoop argue they were deprived of their identities by being taken from their families and placed with non-aboriginal families. As a result, they say, they suffered mental, emotional and other harms.
“Aboriginal communities describe the ’60s Scoop as destructive to their culture,” the claim in Federal Court asserts. “Canada was careless, reckless, wilfully blind, or deliberately accepting of, or was actively promoting, a policy of cultural assimilation.”
Among other things, the claim seeks a court declaration that the government breached its duty toward the plaintiffs and seeks unspecified damages.