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'60s Scoop deal to compensate victims, fund reconciliation foundation

Last Updated Oct 6, 2017 at 11:37 am MDT

Marcia Brown Martel (left) is seen outside court in Toronto on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. The Canadian Press has learned that the federal government has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to Indigenous survivors of the '60s Scoop.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

OTTAWA – Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett held back tears as she announced an agreement in principle with survivors of the ’60s Scoop.

The agreement provides up to $750 million in compensation for individuals classified as status Indians and Inuit.

It also includes an investment of up to $50 million for a foundation for healing and reconciliation.

Bennett called the 60s Scoop a dark and painful chapter in Canada’s history.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, Indigenous children were removed from their homes by child welfare agencies and placed in the care of non-Indigenous families.

The deal is aimed at resolving numerous related lawsuits, most notable among them a successful class action in Ontario.