Newsreal Archives/Critic' Corners


The Biggest Scandal in Canadian History

Merchant-izing Misery

Proposed Documentary about the Residential School Payout Scandal

We are proposing to produce a Feature Documentary about the program that intends to spend billions of dollars, to resolve claims against the Federal Government, for harm Aboriginal people suffered in the Residential Schools. In itself, that topic, does not grab the attention of the Canadian public, but this Documentary will expose two key elements, which ought to scandalize the nation:

� A revelation of how little of the enormous amounts of money under consideration, will find its way to the claimants. Rather - as with the 600 million already squandered by the Aboriginal Dispute Resolution program which lawyers and political power brokers are the ones who will get most of it.

� There is good reason to believe that there is massive fraud going on, and that those administering the program are aware of it.

What is being hidden from the public is evidence that some, and perhaps most, of the claims, are fraudulent. We have in hand evidence, in the form of a tape-recorded interview, with a lawyer who worked on these cases, in which he acknowledges that about 25% were legitimate. The rest, he said, were �embellished.�

We have a man who was solicited by a lawyer about submitting a claim for damages for abuse. When he declined, stating that he did not feel he had been abused during his stay at the Residential School, the lawyer told him �then make something up.� From interviews with others with similar experience, yet to be ascertained, we expect to present the case that the Residential School Payout is yet another way to kick-back public money to Liberal friends and insiders.

This Law Firm is the counsel of record for more than half of the 16,000 claimants. In light of the fact that this lawyer is one of the most influential Liberals in Saskatchewan, and, just co-incidentally, husband of a Senator who was appointed by former Prime Minister John Chretien, Merchant-izing Misery will focus on his role in all of it. Viewers will watch to see if this lawyer makes good his longstanding boast that he would make hundreds of millions of dollars for himself on this Residential School Abuse Class Action Lawsuit.

How much will the reported abuse victims receive from these claims and government payout?

The dramatic revelations of corruption presented within the Gomery Inquiry, have brought about a mood for financial accountability and government transparency. We feel that by the time Merchant-izing Misery is completed, public interest in what it says about politics, will be intense. This Feature Documentary will reveal to the public what is really going on, in our System of Justice, in our country.

Other documentaries will certainly be done about the very real sufferings of the Indian people at Residential Schools. Meanwhile, an expose of the culture of corruption, which has permeated governments, is long overdue.

There is good reason to believe that in the next year, we will uncover a racket hundreds of times bigger, than the Sponsorship Scandal. As unpleasant as that may be, the Canadian public needs to know about it.

We are seeking people interested in working on and exposing this explosive story, the largest scandal in Canadian History.

If you have ideas or leads to people who have something to contribute, please contact us at the:

Better Justice Bureau, email address -- [email protected]