B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma has released more details about the Doukhobour Sons of Freedom compensation package.
The latest details were released one year after the Province of B.C. issued an official apology and promised compensation for wrongs inflicted on about 200 children, their families and the community as a whole during the 1950s.
From 1953 to 1959, children were removed from their homes and placed into forced-education facilities including a former tuberculosis sanatorium in New Denver, in part because their parents opposed government rules and refused to send them to public schools.
In spite of a condemning report released Feb. 27 by B.C. ombudsperson Jay Chalke stated it was "disheartening to see so little progress" on the compensation file, Sharma gave a statement to Castlegar News saying, "We have made good progress in disbursing Health and Wellbeing Fund."
Referencing her trips to Castlegar and Grand Forks in 2024 to issue the apology in those communities, Sharma stated, "I met with members of the Sons of Freedom who have been living with unacknowledged intergenerational trauma for past wrongs for decades.
"At the time, I told them how personally their stories had affected me. I continue to carry the weight of the trust that the Sons of Freedom have put in me, on behalf of the Premier and government, to rectify the wrongs they have suffered."
In a letter sent to the Sons of Freedom survivors and their family members, the Ministry of Attorney General said that a specific group of survivors that were taken to the New Denver School, but were not of school age, would now be eligible for compensation through the Health and Wellbeing Fund.
Those individuals will each receive $5,000, plus $1,000 for each month they were apprehended up to a maximum of $10,000. These payments will be issued beginning in the spring or summer of 2025.
Lorraine Walton, the daughter of two survivors and an advocate for the Lost Voices of New Denver group said the latest communications from the Attorney General are "very upsetting."
She says the descendants were originally promised $10,000 each and the new graduated payment scale is "unacceptable."
"It should be fair and equitable to all."
Some disbursements from the fund have been issued over the last six months. Living survivors, who were of school age at the time they were apprehended and sent to New Denver, have received payments of $18,000 each.
The Ministry of Attorney General says survivors who were of school age each received the same amount, ensuring "equal recognition of their shared experiences."
Living school-aged survivors who have not accessed the Health and Wellbeing Fund can still apply until Nov. 1. Contact sofd@gov.bc.ca for more information.
The next phase in the province's plan is to address spouses and descendants of deceased survivors.
The government says it is working on a validation process for this group, but the fund amount has not been determined.
Walton also says there shouldn't be a question as to how much the descendants of deceased survivors will receive. She believes each family group should receive the same $18,000 payment as the living survivors.
Although, she adds that $18,000 is not enough to truly compensate those children for their trauma.
Spouses and descendants can expect to access the fund in spring/summer 2025, according to the Ministry of Attorney General.
As with the earlier payments, the province has contracted The Canadian Red Cross to distribute the remaining payments.
