Court awards more than $233,000 to victims

Page 8

In what is being hailed as a landmark victory for all residential school victims, the B.C. Supreme Court has awarded a 51-year-old Native man more than $233,000 in compensation, loss of earning capacity and legal expenses for the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at the Christie Indian Residential School on Meares Island. The ruling states, "The plaintiff is entitled to a judgment for the following damages: $150,000 in general damages, $25,000 of which is awarded as aggravated damages; $80,000 for loss of past earning capacity; and $3,400 for future care costs."

The man, identified in the court ruling only as "E. B.", was six years old in September 1956, when he came to the school from Queens Cove, B.C. The school was run by the Roman Catholic Order of Oblates of Mary Immaculate. During a 15-day trial, the victim told the court that the school's baker, Martin Saxey, assaulted him sexually about twice a week from the fall of 1957, when he was seven, until he was 11 or 12 years old.

"I wanted to hide," he testified. "I didn't know what to [do]. I know I stayed away from other boys because I felt a lot of shame. I was so violated."

An older student who admitted to sexually assaulting the plaintiff himself testified there was physical and emotional violence at the school. Discipline was "very threatening" and "very stern," he said.

One psychologist described the school environment as a place where abuse could easily occur.

The plaintiff testified that he has suffered from anxiety, sex-related problems and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He has flashbacks and nightmares and has pondered suicide.

"Some days it was difficult," the man said. "It was hard to cope with life. It was hard to cope with society." The man abused alcohol until he quit drinking in 1983.

In a 176-page decision, Mr. Justice Bruce Cohen of the B.C. Supreme Court said the case relied largely, if not almost entirely, on the victim's credibility. The judge wrote that he found the victim's testimony on the alleged sexual abuse "very compelling." He said he believes the victim was telling the truth and that his anxiety while testifying was genuine.

The ruling on liability, that the Roman Catholic order was financially responsible for damages, was based on guidelines set out in a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision that found that clubs, schools and treatment centres could be held "vicariously liable" for sexual assaults by their employees, even if they were not negligent. But it had not been clear whether that ruling applied only to those who had direct responsibility for supervision of those who were abused or to all employees in the organization, Vancouver lawyer John Shewfelt said in an interview. The B.C. Supreme Court decided the rules on vicarious liability apply to everyone employed by the organization, he said.

The executive director of the BC First Nations Summit Provincial Residential School Project, Chief Robert Joseph, told Raven's Eye, "The judgment is a vindication for the plaintiff and once again a confirmation that heinous crimes were carried out against little children in the schools."

Chief Joseph explained that the churches have argued they didn't know what was taking place in the schools, but fortunately the judge in this latest case didn't buy into that argument. Hence, the ruling on "vicarious liability."

"Hopefully the outcome of this latest trial will further remove the walls of denial that currently exist around the issue, and encourage the parties-the churches and federal government-to become more accountable," said Chief Joseph.