A settlement agreement has now officially been signed by the Government of Canada and Survivors of the Ile a la Crosse Boarding School. The Ile a la Crosse Boarding School ran from the 1860s to the 1970s, but was excluded from official designation as a residential school leaving survivors out of potential compensation. This past September, survivors and the federal government reached a settlement agreement in principle. On Thursday morning, Canada’s Secretary of State and former mayor of Ile a la Crosse Buckley Belanger, announced that both sides had signed the official agreement at an event in the northern community. (TOP PHOTO – File photo of the Ile a la Crosse Boarding School)