Statement from the Otipemisiwak Métis Government on the Sixties Scoop Class Action Court Decision
Posted on: May 02, 2025
The Otipemisiwak Métis Government is disappointed by the April 29, 2025, decision from the Federal Court regarding the class action brought on behalf of Survivors of the Sixties Scoop who are Métis and non-status Indians. The plaintiffs asked the Court to recognize that Canada owed legal duties to Métis and non-status Indian Survivors of the Sixties Scoop across the country. While the ruling recognizes Canada owed a duty of care to Survivors taken through Saskatchewan’s Adopt Indian Métis (AIM) program, it leaves most others, including Métis Citizens in Alberta, without justice.
“This ruling is painful,” said Andrea Sandmaier, President of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government. “It reopens wounds that have never fully healed. It acknowledges Canada’s role in the Sixties Scoop in Saskatchewan, but denies that Canada has any responsibility for the thousands of Métis children impacted across the rest of the country. Our Citizens were taken from their families, stripped of their culture, and robbed of their identity. Canada must be held accountable.”
This class action was brought in the wake of the 2018 Sixties Scoop settlement, which excluded Métis and non-status Indians from the compensation Canada promised Survivors for the role Canada played in the Sixties Scoop. In this week’s decision, the Court rejected Canada’s attempt to dismiss the case on the ground that it was “time-barred,” acknowledging that many Survivors only came to understand the full extent of the harm later in life. This recognition is important, but the ruling falls short of delivering the justice all Métis Survivors deserve.
Brooke Bramfield, Secretary of Children and Family Services for the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, added, “the Sixties Scoop devastated entire generations of Métis families across the Homeland, including here in Alberta. Healing requires action. Our Métis government will continue to advocate and fight for every one of our Citizens who is a Survivor.”
The Otipemisiwak Métis Government knows the harm caused by the Sixties Scoop did not stop at provincial borders and Survivors across the country deserve accountability.
“This decision does not close the door on our pursuit of justice,” said President Sandmaier. “Our government will continue to explore every possible avenue to ensure that Métis Survivors receive the recognition and justice they are owed.”