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Lawyer warns of time limits on abuse claims

"There is a real risk that a court will put a stop to this"

JANE GEORGE

Montreal lawyer Gilles Gagné is urging former students at federal day schools in northern Quebec or Churchill's vocational school during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, who feel they experienced physical or sexual abuse while in school, to get in touch with him by the end of the summer.

"If someone does nothing and in 10 years says, 'I would like to sue', the court may say, 'We feel that you have been aware of your rights and you could have acted earlier,'" Gagné said. "There is a real risk that a court in the next few years will put a stop to this."

Makivik Corporation is underwriting Gagné's legal services. This fall, he plans to file lawsuits on behalf of Nunavimmiut who say they were abused as students.

The call went out two months ago, but since then only 30 or so former students have contacted the lawyer. Gagné said he feels many students who suffered abuse may still be reluctant to contact him.

"I know from plaintiffs in Payne Bay [now Kangirsuk] that during the same period there were a few sharks there. Everywhere you have just one of those sharks, those predators, you have many victims," Gagné said.

He has heard nothing from residents in Nunavik's larger communities, including Puvirnituq, Salluit, Kuujjuaq and Kangiqsualujjuaq.

Five federal schools, in the communities then known as Fort George, Great Whale River, Port Harrison, Payne Bay and George River, have been singled out in addition to the Churchill Vocational School in Manitoba.

Former students who decide to deal with Gagné need to send him a signed letter indicating what happened, where and when.

Gagné said it takes "very, very" serious allegations of abuse in order to have the statutes of limitation dropped by the courts. The abuse needs to have been lasting, so the court doesn't consider the passage of time as an obstacle to the case.

"Like torture or being starved, or being locked in a dark place for seven days, or hung to freeze on a post outside. All these things have happened," Gagné said.

"These are examples of physical abuse, which gets to be a psychological trauma and will have a lasting effect. It's not enough to say 'very bad things happened to me at school.'" Gagné said.

He expects to hear mainly from men, as 90 per cent of the alleged victims were defenseless, young boys at the time of the abuse.

With Gagné's assistance, in 2000, former students at the Port Harrison Federal Day School during the 1960s launched a legal action against the federal government, and the school's former teachers and employees, citing losses, injuries, gross indignities and abuse.

The former students were asking more than $15 million in compensation and for $5 million to be placed in trust to provide continued psychological help for the plaintiffs and their families.

The plaintiffs settled last fall after first refusing two offers from the federal government.

Gagné said they agreed not to publicize the amounts they received, but he said those who suffered more, received more.

"I think they were all happy in the end. It's not just the money. They got it off their chests. For many of them, they feel a lot better since they sort of spilled the beans. It was hard to do," Gagné said. "The money doesn't change the past, but it does make the present a little more tolerable."

Gagné said if former students are wary of the process, they should speak to people they trust or to others who have already spoken out about abuse.

"If I were one of those guys, I'd say now is a good time or forever hold it," Gagné said.

"It's going to be more difficult in the future. It's an expensive process and I'm not sure 10 years from now that there's going to be financial support."

Gilles Gagné can be contacted at 1135 University, suite 1400, Montreal, QC H3B 3A7 or by fax at (514) 871-5336.

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