Settlement fund nearly at $7 million

The Indian residential schools settlement fund has collected $6.95 million (of a $25 million target) from Canadian Anglican dioceses and from General Synod as of Sept. 30, 2003 , according to General Synod treasurer Jim Cullen. The fund, called the Anglican Church of Canada Resolution Corp., has paid $1.4 million in settlements to 55 plaintiffs, according to General Secretary Jim Boyles. Four dioceses – Quebec , Moosonee, Athabasca and Yukon 0 have paid their five-year commitments in full, Mr. Cullen reported. The Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior (of British Columbia ) contributed $10,000. The APCI is the successor entity to the former diocese of Cariboo, which suspended operations on Dec. 31, 2001 , due to financial pressures brought on by residential schools lawsuits. The diocese of Edmonton has nearly paid its full five-year commitment – $475,000 of $500,000 – and Bishop Victoria Matthews, in a letter to Mr. Boyles, said the diocese reached its total (including pledges) during Holy Week of 2003, “a year prior to our target date for raising the money.” In an letter thanking the diocese of Edmonton , Mr. Boyles noted that the diocese committed to raising more funds than originally requested and “responded magnificently” to the settlement agreement. In March, 2003, the Anglican Church of Canada and the federal government signed an agreement capping the church’s liability at $25 million in connection with its involvement with the native residential school system. The Anglican church ran 26 of the 80 schools that were located across Canada and operated from the mid-nineteenth century into the 1970s. Beginning in the mid-1990s, former students began to sue churches and government, alleging sexual and physical abuse in the schools.