MP Charlie Angus (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) is accusing the federal government of using “intimidation tactics to try and scare off any lawyers from defending” survivors of St. Anne’s residential school.

“The government went after (Ottawa lawyer) Fay Brunning to pay the government’s costs even though these were about cases in which the government suppressed evidence,” said Angus who hosted a press conference outside the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto Tuesday where the Brunning appeal was heard.

He was joined by leaders from Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Mushkegowuk Council as well as about a dozen residential school survivors.

Angus said there were St. Anne survivors and family members who had travelled from Fort Albany, Kashechewan and Timmins to offer a show of support for Brunning.

“In the case of St. Anne’s, there was an extensive OPP investigation with thousands of pages of police evidence and the names of all the perpetrators of the crimes against the children of St. Anne’s” — documents which Angus said the government has withheld.

Brunning had been representing survivors of the Fort Albany-based residential school in court but was unsuccessful in arguing for survivors to use those documents to re-open cases of past abuse at St. Anne’s.

The federal government is now seeking $25,000 in court costs.

Brunning is appealing that decision in the wake of a subsequent Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year.

“The Supreme Court ruled that survivors who were denied evidence have a right to have their cases heard and the government is still not complying,” said Angus. “So we’re going to court with the survivors to say, ‘End this legal war against Fay Brunning. She did the right thing, she brought forward evidence, she proved the government was sitting on cases and had cases thrown out because they suppressed evidence.’

“The Supreme Court has said these survivors have a right to have their cases heard and the lawyers who represent them have the right to bring these forward without the government trying to intimidate them with these legal tactics.”