The head of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission resigned Monday over what he suggested was an internal leadership struggle.

Justice Harry LaForme of the Ontario Court of Appeal was appointed in April as chairman of the commission, which is tasked with documenting the experiences of former students.

In a letter sent Monday to Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, LaForme said the commission is on the "verge of paralysis" because its commissioners do not accept his authority.

"At the heart of it is an incurable problem," LaForme wrote.

"The two commissioners are unprepared to accept that the structure of the commission requires that the (commission's) course is to be charted and its objectives are to be shaped ultimately through the authority and leadership of its chair."

The commission was set up June 1 as part of a $1.9-billion class-action settlement for the government-funded residential school system. For much of the last century, about 150,000 aboriginal students attended 130 church-run institutions, where many were abused physically, sexually and emotionally. It's estimated more than 80,000 former students are still alive.

The commission is expected to run for five years in hopes of encouraging former students and others affected by the tragic legacy to share their experiences in a culturally appropriate manner.

A spokesman for LaForme said he would not grant media interviews.

Officials with the commission couldn't immediately be reached for comment Monday.

It's not the first time LaForme has publicly questioned the commission's operation.

In July, less than two months after it was struck, LaForme expressed concerns that political or bureaucratic interference could compromise the commission, and he said those concerns were delaying the panel's startup.

LaForme also said the panel cannot allow itself to be "shackled" by bureaucratic requirements, and that the commissioners, not government, must be able to decide how to spend their $58-million budget.

At the time, LaForme noted a potential for friction over the panel's independence. He said it came as "a surprise" to discover the feds had created a secretariat as a government department staffed by civil servants reporting to the minister of Indian affairs, instead of allowing the commission to set up its own office.

With a report from The Canadian Press