St. Anne's Residential School survivors react to Supreme Court ruling

Mike Metatawabin is a survivor of St. Anne's residential school, which was a Catholic-run institution in Fort Albany. He attended there in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s.

“It was a concentration camp so people need to understand ... it was very extreme and cruel in terms of the long term affects,” said Metatawabin.

Metatawabin has been a chief and deputy chief of Fort Albany. Now he serves as a board member for the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service and Northern College.

He said the Supreme Court of Canada's decision not to hear an appeal from survivors of the St. Anne residential school, to release documents containing information about the abuse he says they experienced in the school, did not surprise him.

“I am a ward of the state, so with this ruling that’s what they’re saying: 'no, we will not enter any more of this conversation. We will uphold the status quo and that’s it,'" he said.

He and fellow survivor Evelyn Korkmaz said they're not giving up. They said with this ruling and without the truth there is no reconciliation. They want the documents released.

“It tells us what happened to us because the missionaries were very meticulous," said Korkmaz.

"They took notes, they kept journals, they kept photographs. These are a part of Canada’s history. Whether it’s a dark history or not it’s still Canada’s history."

Korkmaz said what happened at St. Anne's residential school was genocide and with Mike's brother, Ed, leading the appeal, they are hoping their case will be heard in the international court.