But our favoured option is to find agreement with the government to allow the Church to remain in operation. Federal officials have so far refused to bail the Church out of its legal liabilities, saying Anglican leaders aren't being honest about their ability to pay. Far more serious are the 1,600 lawsuits filed by aboriginal people, most of whom say they were physically or sexually abused as students in Church-run residential schools. The Church warned the federal government several months ago that it would run out of money by 2001 unless Ottawa assumed a share of its legal expenses. The Anglican restructuring does not affect the Church's parishes and dioceses across Canada.
Most dioceses are separately incorporated bodies untouched by the lawsuits.
Only a handful of dioceses in Western Canada also face bankruptcy, because along with the national Church, they are being directly sued by native claimants. Chris Williams, Bishop of the Arctic, says he now hires priests by telling them that money to pay their salaries may run out after a year. Church leaders are also holding talks with bishops across the country this fall to discuss transferring responsibility for the Church's national programs and international mission work to regional southern dioceses. Native residential schools were a federal policy for much of this century, however Canadian courts have found both Churches and the government liable for any abuse in the schools. A brief introduction to the tenets of Anglican theology and the structure of the Church.