wfn.org | Canadian Anglican church averts showdown with federal government

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Canadian church averts showdown with federal government;
Negotiations to continue on residential schools claims

Waterloo Ontario, 8 July 2001 - Leadership of the Anglican Church of Canada
(ACC), meeting here for the 36th session of General Synod, voted by a
narrow majority today to defer decision on a resolution directing General
Synod to break off talks with the federal government to express
"dissatisfaction and disappointment" over the slow pace of negotiations
with the federal government in resolving the ongoing litigation over
residential schools.

The vote, passed by a slender margin among the 300 Synod delegates from
Anglican dioceses across Canada, averted a showdown which would have
required General Synod senior management to "cease negotiations" with the
federal government. Under the proposed resolution, the team was instructed
to break off talks with the government by a deadline of 15 September 2001
unless concrete progress was made on a number of specific areas of
negotiation.

The outcome of today's vote was to refer the resolution for further
deliberation by the Council of General Synod (CoGS), a smaller body charged
with all executive decisions on behalf of the ACC while the triennial
meeting of General Synod is not in session.

If and until there is a direction from CoGS, the ACC negotiating team will
continue to meet with federal negotiators throughout the summer in pursuit
of a settlement that is fair and equitable to all parties. According to
Archdeacon Jim Boyles, General Secretary of General Synod and chief
negotiator for the Anglican Church, the ACC is currently in a "constructive
phase" of negotiations with the three other churches and federal Deputy
Minister Jack Stagg, recently appointed to head the government negotiating
team on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray.

Based on most recent statistics, General Synod is currently facing 809
lawsuits brought directly against the Church by aboriginal plaintiffs and a
further 386 claims filed by the federal government naming General Synod as
third party, bringing the total claims against General Synod to 1,195. It
is the third party suits - numbering 32.3% of the total - which are under
negotiation between General Synod and the federal government as part of the
overall review of the residential schools issue. In an earlier report to
General Synod, it was reported that the ACC - including General Synod and
the dioceses - has spent nearly $5 million on legal costs on the
residential schools issue during the past two years.

With feelings running high on the Synod floor, a number of speakers during
today's debate expressed the view that it was "time to play hardball" and
"time to send a blunt message" demonstrating that the Anglican Church is
"running out of patience" and "losing trust" in its negotiations with
government.

The prevailing view, as expressed by Rt. Rev. Donald Phillips, Bishop of
Rupert's Land (Winnipeg), was that it would be unwise to "tie the hands of
our negotiators with rigid conditions at a time when the negotiations
remain fluid and flexible."

In addition, said Archbishop David Crawley, Metropolitan of the Province of
British Columbia and the Yukon, "We have an obligation to continue to
negotiate to achieve our first priority, which is healing and justice for
aboriginal people."

-30-

July 10, 2001

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Leanne Larmondin
Web Manager
Anglican Church of Canada
600 Jarvis St.
Toronto ON  L5E 2G1
(416) 924 9199 ext. 307
ll@anglican.ca
http://www.anglican.ca
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