START OVER! -Residential schools commission to start from scratch By Norma Greenaway, Canwest News Service January 30, 2009 4:08 PM Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci will name a selection committee to conduct the search for new commissioners, an announcement due Friday will state. Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci will name a selection committee to conduct the search for new commissioners, an announcement due Friday will state. Photograph by: Jean Levac, Ottawa Citizen OTTAWA — The troubled federal commission into Indian residential schools will be remade with three new commissioners, ending months of agonizing over how to respond to the surprise resignation of its chairman, Henry LaForme, in October. The government and parties to the residential schools agreement announced Friday a selection committee has been struck to find a new chairman and two commissioners as quickly as possible. Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, who will be the chairman of the selection committee, facilitated the agreement. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said the move promises a "fresh start" for the battered commission. Strahl said he is optimistic a new three-panel commission will be in place within weeks, and that he also is satisfied all parties now are "crystal clear" about how the commission will operate. "It's going to make it easier to recruit commissioners," he said in a telephone interview. The disruption caused by LaForme's angry departure has already slowed the work of the five-year, $60-million Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Among other things, it was forced to cancel opening hearings slated for this month. The commission is charged with collecting stories from victims of abuse in the residential school system and encouraging reconciliation within Canadian society over the dark chapter in the country's history. LaForme set off a storm of charges and counter charges when he quit, saying he could not get along with his two fellow commissioners. He accused them of trying to usurp his power as chairman, and also complained, through a spokesman, of interference by the Assembly of First Nations. The two remaining commissioners — lawyer Jane Morley of British Columbia and Claudette Dumont-Smith, a Quebec health specialist — announced they were stepping aside, and that their resignations would take effect June 1, 2009. "We regret that we will not be continuing as commissioners for the full five-year mandate," they said in a joint statement. "However, we have become convinced that the time has come for us to step aside and let others take on the demanding but rewarding mission." They said they continue to "disagree" with LaForme's stated reasons for quitting, but did not elaborate. Instead, they urged all parties to the residential school agreement, among them the United, Anglican and Catholic churches, the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government, to focus on getting the commission back on track as soon as possible. Strahl characterized the outgoing commissioners' June 1 resignation as a technicality, and said he was confident a new three-panel commission would be in place long before that date. In a separate statement, Iacobucci said the selection committee would welcome nominations of individuals to serve as commissioners. He also praised all those involved in the process of finding a way to move forward, and that he saw no evidence of anyone trying to interfere in the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The selection committee includes Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations; Mary Simon on behalf of Inuit representatives; Michael Wernick, deputy minister of the Department of Indian Affairs; Rev. James Scott on behalf of the Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches; Pierre Baribeau, on behalf of Catholic entities, and Len Marchand on behalf of claimants under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. Fontaine said he's satisfied the commission will be back on track very soon, and ready to hear from survivors of the schools who are anxious to tell their stories. "This actually has presented us with a good opportunity to relaunch the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and do it in a way that has three commissioners very focused and committed to getting things right," Fontaine said in an interview. © Copyright (c) Canwest News Service