Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution

The Client
The Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada was created in 2001 in order to support the Deputy Prime Minister in focussing federal efforts to resolve claims associated with the legacy of the Aboriginal residential school system.

The Challenge
KTA was contracted to undertake a review of ten pilot projects in existence across the country whose purpose is “to achieve out-of-court resolutions of Canada’s legal liabilities that promote healing and reconciliation for groups of Indian Residential School survivors” and determine if the projects are consistent with the thrust of the Guiding Principles for Working Together to Build Restoration and Reconciliation.

How KTA Helped
KTA developed the logic model, an evaluation framework and a review plan for the review of the pilot projects. As only limited quantitative data was available and the majority of the data was qualitative in nature, the consultant interviewed a representative group of project participants including survivors, legal council, church and federal representatives.

The Final Residential School Review report received much attention. The content provided lessons learned from the projects, which could inform future mandating exercises for residential school dispute resolution more generally; and to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders in the projects by engaging them in an assessment dialogue.