For decades, Ontario Children’s Aid agencies removed thousands of Métis, First Nations and Inuit children from their families and placed them in foster homes or arranged for adoption by non-Indigenous families. This nationwide practice, which started as early as 1951, has become known as the Sixties Scoop and resulted in these children being separated from their natural families, losing their cultural identities and made it difficult for these Indigenous people to reclaim Indigenous rights. In early 2018, an Ontario court sided with plaintiffs in a Sixties Scoop class action lawsuit that the federal government was liable for the harm done to Indigenous children placed into foster care and non-Indigenous homes. The federal government has settled with First Nation and Inuit, but Métis have so far been left out of the settlements.
Engagement sessions across the Métis Homeland hosted by Métis Nation Governing Members will be held over the next two months for Métis survivors of the ‘Sixties Scoop’. These engagement sessions will help inform the federal government in addressing the legacy of the Sixties Scoop on the Métis and to reconcile its harmful effects. The Ontario session will be held:
April 11-13, 2019
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel
Toronto, Ontario
Métis Sixties Scoop survivors and their families are encouraged to participate and can find information on all the sessions at www.sixties.scoop.metisportals.ca, by calling 1-800-928-6330 ext 532 (toll free) or emailing alishak@metisnation.org. At the engagement session survivors and their families will be hosted in a safe, respectful, culturally based environment. It is an opportunity for survivors to meet with other survivors and to access support and counselling if required.