A residential school in Saskatchewan. Circa 1906. Photo by John Woodruff

A judge in Canada ordered the destruction of residential school survivor records after 15 years but said individual students should be able to determine whether to preserve their information.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul M. Perell said the waiting period will give survivors time to decide what to do with their records. If they agree to preserve the information, sensitive data will be redacted before it's sent to the National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

"It is the survivor’s story to tell or not tell and it is the survivor’s individual decision that must be respected," Perrell wrote in the lengthy decision on Thursday.

As part of the Independent Assessment Process, residential school survivors submitted testimony and documents about the physical, mental and sexual abuse they suffered. Chief adjudicator Dan Shapiro, who wanted the records kept confidential, welcomed the judge's ruling.

"The court has issued a clear statement confirming the privacy of claimants and others identified in compensation claim records," Shapiro said in a statement. "This will be a huge relief to the thousands of claimants who have appeared at our hearings fully expecting that their accounts of the abuse they suffered at Indian Residential Schools would not be made public without their consent."

Get the Story:
Residential school survivors will decide fate of testimony documents (CBC 8/7)
Court orders residential school documents destroyed — after 15 years (The Toronto Star 8/8)
Residential school testimony should be destroyed after 15 years, court rules (The Globe and Mail 8/8)
Court orders residential school documents destroyed after 15-year grace period (The Saskatoon StarPhoenix 8/8)

Related Stories:
Judge hears dispute over fate of residential school documents (07/17)
Court to hear dispute over residential school documents in July (06/19)
Residential school survivors want testimony kept confidential (05/15)