CANADA
National Post
Tara Brautigam, Canadian Press
Published: Sunday, February 12, 2006
TORONTO -- A long-awaited public inquiry that will examine how the justice system responded to allegations that doctors, lawyers and priests sexually abused children in a southeastern Ontario city over the course of a half-century begins Monday.
The independent commission will probe the actions
of Cornwall police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Ontario government and the Children's Aid Society among others during and after the alleged abuse, but won't draw any conclusions about criminal liability.
The scope of the inquiry is vast. A team of lawyers has already begun the process of sifting through more than 150,000 pages of documents. Experts on sexual abuse, child welfare response and police protocol will testify over the first few weeks of the inquiry, tentatively scheduled to span a year, to set a framework for the issues at stake.