No subject

- the list is graphic and disturbingly thorough.

It's all part of a complicated compensation system that a court-ordered
independent program is now using to settle serious sexual- and
physical-abuse claims by former residential-school students.

The majority are aboriginal. All were either children or teenagers when they
were assaulted, often by the adults paid and trusted to look after or teach
them.

The closed-door private hearings, which began late last year in locations
across the country, are expected to process about 12,500 claimants by 2013.
The more abuse a person can prove, along with providing supporting evidence
of subsequent harm, such as a forced abortion, substance-abuse problems or
lost income, the higher the rate of financial compensation that person is
entitled to from the federal government.

The maximum amount is $245,000. However, if a person can prove income loss,
the final amount can be increased to up to $430,000.

Peter Harris, a Vancouver-based lawyer who helped the federal government,
aboriginal leaders, churches and others draw up the compensation rules for
the new Independent Assessment Process, acknowledges they are painfully
detailed and could upset victims.

"It troubles some people and it troubles me," he said. "But because of the
huge number of claims, it's a manageable way to approach the issue and try
to get some level of standardization."

Mr. Harris's law firm has been representing former residential-school
students since the 1990s. He said before this program, victims either had to
go to court or apply for a hearing from the federally run Alternative
Dispute Resolution program.

The dispute resolution program was similar to the new program, but was
voluntary and not binding and didn't have as many categories of abuse for
claimants to choose from.

The new program, which is independent and supervised by nine provincial and
territorial courts, is also expected to give out larger settlements.

The Independent Assessment Process is part of a larger historic $4-billion
residential-schools settlement agreement that came into effect last fall.
The settlement, which was negotiated by the federal government, aboriginal
groups, churches and lawyers representing former students, included a
lump-sum payment for all surviving former residential students,
approximately 80,000 people. The average payment is about $28,000.

Former students had the right to opt out. Only 348 did, which gives them the
right to settle abuse claims or other grievances through the courts.

Most of the schools were church-run, but supported financially by the
Canadian government from the 1870s to the 1970s.

Angus Cockney, a 51-year-old Inuvialuit artist and businessman, is not
impressed with the settlement, arguing former residential-school students
like him have been largely shafted.

"Look at someone like Maher Arar. He got millions from the government. I'd
argue he got it easy compared to many residential students," he said. "Why I
should be treated less? Look at my case. Look at all of our cases."

In 2007, Mr. Arar, a Canadian engineer who had been illegally sent to Syria
where he says he was tortured after the RCMP wrongly labelled him an Islamic
extremist, was given a compensation package worth more than $10-million.

Even still, Mr. Cockney is applying for a hearing. "I've been silent for 35,
40 years; I can't suppress it any longer," said the divorced father of two
who now lives in Canmore, Alta.

He was born in a camp east of Tuktoyaktuk, a small community located 350
kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

In 1961, when he was five, he remembers a float plane landing at their
outpost camp on the Arctic Ocean, and people "abducting" him from his
parents. He was flown to Grollier Hall, a Catholic-run residential school in
Inuvik, along with his brother Rex, who was seven, and his sister Regina,
who was six.

They were all given numbers. He was 248.

The next 12 years were largely a nightmare of constant physical, sexual and
mental abuse for Mr. Cockney. "These people were supposed to exemplify love,
but instead they taught us to hate," he said.

For years, Mr. Cockney, who became an accomplished cross-country skiing
athlete and North Pole adventurer, never admitted to anyone what had
happened to him at Grollier Hall.

But in the late 1990s, after four male former school employees were
convicted of sex crimes, the memories began flooding back.

He said many of his ex-classmates also struggled through the years, dozens
either killing themselves or turning to drugs or alcohol to suppress the
pain of the abuse and loss of language and culture.

To this day, he has still not spoken about his own horrific experience with
his ex-wife, children or siblings. "It's the native way. It's not the right
way," he admitted. Instead, Mr. Cockney has often used art to express
himself, and in 1999, even created a haunting sculpture called Remembering.

Abuse claimants are allowed to pick where their hearings are conducted, and
Mr. Cockney either wants his to be held in Inuvik or the spot east of
Tuktoyaktuk where he was stolen from his parents.

An adjudicator conducts the hearing, which has a standard of proof similar
to a civil proceeding. Only a handful of people are allowed to sit in,
including the claimant, a health support worker and a representative from
the Canadian government.

Mr. Cockney said the compensation grid is a necessary evil, but he's
concerned it doesn't go far enough because it doesn't include categories
such as the effects of being abducting and the trauma resulting from the
lack of an official government apology.

During this process, he also wants to find answers about his family,
including what happened to his parents, Annie and Stanley, and three younger
siblings. When he was eight, he was told they all died in a fire, but he has
never been able to find burial markers for his siblings.

Daniel Ish, chief adjudicator of the Independent Assessment Process, is
hopeful these hearings will help former residential students heal.

He said while it's a complex program, it's a "gentler" alternative to going
to court, which can be quite expensive, time-consuming and adversarial.

Mr. Ish acknowledged adjudicators will face many challenges, including
assessing claims where so much time has passed since the alleged abuse took
place. "But they aren't insurmountable. ...You don't shy away because of the
challenges."

COMPLEX COMPENSATION RULES

A court-ordered independent program is using the following compensation
system to help settle serious sexual- and physical-abuse claims by former
residential-school students. The maximum amount of compensation for abuse is
$245,000. However, if a person can prove income loss, the final amount can
be increased to up to $430,000. 

The following list outlines the approximate range of compensation allowed
for the abuse described. 

$54,000 - $85,000

Repeated, persistent incidents of anal or vaginal intercourse 

Repeated, persistent incidents of anal/vaginal penetration with an object 

$40,000 - $55,000

One or more incidents of anal or vaginal intercourse

Repeated, persistent incidents of oral intercourse

One or more incidents of anal/vaginal penetration with an object

$25,000 - $45,000

One or more incidents of oral intercourse

One or more incidents of digital anal/vaginal penetration

One or more incidents of attempted anal/vaginal penetration (excluding
attempted digital penetration)

Repeated, persistent incidents of masturbation

$11,000 - $24,000

One or more physical assaults causing a physical injury that led to or
should have led to hospitalization or serious medical treatment by a
physician; permanent or demonstrated long-term physical injury, impairment
or disfigurement; loss of consciousness; broken bones; or a serious but
temporary incapacitation such that bed rest or infirmary care of several
days duration was required. Examples include severe beating, whipping and
second-degree burning

One or more incidents of simulated intercourse

One or more incidents of masturbation

Repeated, persistent fondling under clothing

$7,500 - $10,000

One or more incidents of fondling or kissing

Nude photographs taken of the claimant

The act of an adult employee or other adult lawfully on the premises
exposing themselves

Any touching of a student, including touching with an object, by an adult
employee or other adult lawfully on the premises which exceeds recognized
parental contact and violates the sexual integrity of the student

$7,500 - $24,000

Being singled out for physical abuse by an adult employee or other adult
lawfully on the premises which was grossly excessive in duration and
frequency and which caused psychological consequential harms

Any other wrongful act committed by an adult employee or other adult
lawfully on the premises which is proven to have caused psychological
consequential harms

Aggravating factors

The following could increase the amount of compensation by up to 15 per
cent:

Verbal abuse

Racist acts

Threats

Intimidation/inability to complain; oppression

Humiliation; degradation

Sexual abuse accompanied by violence

Age of the victim or abuse of a particularly vulnerable child

Failure to provide care or emotional support following abuse requiring such
care

Witnessing another student being subjected to an act set out in the above
list

Use of religious doctrine, paraphernalia or authority during, or in order to
facilitate, the abuse

Being abused by an adult who had built a particular relationship of trust
and caring with the victim (betrayal)

Source: Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement