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	Antigonish Scandal: When Millions Aren’t Enough By Dan Leger The Chronicle-Herald October 26, 2009 http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1149511.html MAYBE SOME, "a few, a few of them, many of them, most of them — who knows? — had some kind of inkling that this was wrong and could have said: ‘No, thank you very much.’" Those words were uttered by the man who preceded Raymond Lahey as Bishop of Antigonish, quoted in a book on the Church scandal by author Leon Podles. Colin Campbell, Bishop of Antigonish from 1986 to 1992, made the statement in response to allegations of child sexual abuse by priests. Campbell suggested that children could have rebuffed the men molesting them, men who embodied the mystic power and authority of the Church. That they didn’t implied they welcomed the sexual come-ons, that they "wanted it." Years later, Lahey looked like a Church leader with far greater vision than his predecessor when he negotiated a multi-million-dollar settlement with victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Antigonish. The settlement was rich but instantly controversial, if only because many parishioners didn’t want to pay for the sins of the priests. They hadn’t done anything wrong. Why should they pay? Yet others were willing to pay up so that justice could be achieved for the victims and everyone could just move on. But even that reluctant acceptance was shaken when Lahey was charged in September with importing and possessing child pornography. After all, what does it say about the settlement’s credibility when the man who signed it now appears so morally bankrupt? Yet the settlement exists and has the full force of the law. The diocese agreed to pay roughly $13 million to compensate victims directly and help pay for counselling and legal costs. No doubt many of the victims are happy with the settlement because for them, justice has been done. But is it fair to everyone? Enter Paul Ledroit, an Ontario litigation lawyer who has represented more than 200 victims of sexual abuse. He has pried millions of dollars from Church coffers for his clients. He thinks the Antigonish settlement is flawed. Last Thursday, The Chronicle Herald published an opinion piece by Ledroit which set out his objections to the settlement. There are many, but he told me in an interview that most important among them is that the door is being closed on any further investigations into wrongdoing in the diocese. Hearings into individual claims will be held in secret and that, he says, means we might never know who covered up for the misdeeds of priests. And we might never hear from other victims still too afraid to step forward. Ledroit is a bulldog litigator who represents Philip Latimer and others in a separate lawsuit against the Church, launched earlier this month in Halifax. He seems outraged at the abuses, going so far as to describe the fight as a "social crusade" for justice. It does seem like a crusade for Ledroit, who says allowing the Church to quietly settle the Antigonish cases means there will never be a thorough investigation of the crimes. And that makes it less likely the victims will ever recover fully. The Antigonish settlement "perpetuates the secrecy that allowed this to go on," here in Nova Scotia and around the world, he says. "The healing process doesn’t get a chance" if the matter is settled and hushed up. John McKiggan, the lawyer who negotiated the Antigonish settlement, disputes some of Ledroit’s claims. And he doesn’t buy the argument that litigation is in the best interests of abuse survivors. He says the settlement contains, for the first time, an admission by the Church that it’s responsible for the abuse. And it spares survivors the ordeal of a public trial process in which their suffering and humiliation would be exposed. It’s impossible to exaggerate how much is at stake. Besides millions of dollars of settlement money, there’s also the fate of victims, ordinary people who have suffered for decades. Beyond that, the credibility of the Church itself is at stake, because as an institution, it still owes Catholics and non-Catho- lics alike a promise to clean up its hideous internal sins and allow everyone, finally, to heal. Contact: dleger@herald.ca Dan Leger is director of news content for The Chronicle Herald. The opinions expressed here are his own.
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