A judge says former students at residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador can proceed with a class action, CBC News reported.

An estimated 5,000 Inuit, and some Metis, attended five schools. The Canadian government maintains it did not have a role in the schools.

But Judge Robert Fowler said the government accepted responsibility for the education of Native students when Newfoundland and Labrador joined the nation. He placed the burden on the government to prove whether or not it was involved.

Canada settled a lawsuit for abuses at residential schools in other provinces and apologized to former students. But the settlement and the apology did not include the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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