Canada.com
December 15, 2009
http://www.canada.com/news/Police+church+province+failed+protect+children+Cornwall+Inquiry/2342884/story.html
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| Justice Normand Glaude delivered his damning report on the Cornwall sex abuse inquiry on Tuesday. Photo by File photo, The Ottawa Citizen |
TORONTO — Ontario's Liberal government apologized for the systemic failure that allowed sex abuse to take place in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall.
"I sincerely apologize to those who have been affected as a result of these events," said Rick Bartolucci, the province's minister of community safety and correctional services, as he responded to the release of the Cornwall inquiry into sexual abuse allegations. "Not only the victims, not only the victims' families, but their friends and the community. At the very least, I am pleased that our government has responded to requests for an inquiry after years of having this issue fester."
However, neither Bartolucci nor Attorney General Chris Bentley, who shared the podium at a Queen's Park news conference Tuesday afternoon, would commit to implementing any of the 234 recommendations in the report, prepared by Justice Normand Glaude.
Bentley said he had only received the report 24 hours before it was publicly released.
"We will be moving in whatever ways we need to," he said.
A 1,600-page report stemming from a four-year public inquiry into sexual abuse in Cornwall was critical of the institutional response to those allegations. The probation office, the church and police are all guilty of failing to properly investigate abuse claims, Glaude said.
"Institutions were ill-equipped to deal with allegations about their own employees," Glaude said Tuesday during a news conference. "Institutions tended to try to find a way out, allowing individuals to stay under ineffective conditions that failed to protect the vulnerable."
He added that institutions were reluctant to own up to their mistakes, saying they were "less concerned about victims than about public embarrassment."
Police forces did not provide support to victims of historical sexual abuse because they didn't have the resources, knowledge or commitment, Glaude said.
Failure to provide support "fed distrust and anxiety."
Bentley was asked repeatedly why costs at the inquiry spiralled out of control. The $53-million public inquiry is said to be the most expensive in provincial history.
He gave no specific reasons why the process was so costly.
Neither could the two cabinet ministers explain why the central question hanging over Cornwall — whether there was an organized pedophile ring — was not conclusively answered in the report.
"It would have been our hope that everyone's questions would have been answered," said Bartolucci. "But at the end of the day, having had to live the experiences that those individuals had to live, I'm sure that no matter how thorough this report could have been — in some people's eyes, there would have still been questions."
But one of the loudest proponents of an inquiry, former Conservative member of legislature Gary Guzzo, said the government erred in restricting the parameters of the inquiry.
Guzzo, who first raised the issue at Queen's Park more than a decade ago, said Glaude was hampered during the four-year process.
"The man was put in a very difficult position — in a semi-straitjacket," he said, referring to Glaude's mandate to examine institutional responses to historical claims of sexual abuse. "From what I've seen he did an excellent job within the parameters."
Glaude did not say whether a pedophile ring existed in Cornwall.
"Throughout this inquiry I have heard evidence that suggested there were cases of joint abuse, passing of alleged victims, and possibly passive knowledge of abuse," he wrote in his report. "I want to be very clear that I am not going to make a pronouncement on whether a ring existed or not."
Glaude heard testimony from about 175 witnesses, ranging from victims of sexual abuse to contextual experts and current and former officials at institutions such as the Alexandria-Cornwall Catholic Diocese, Ontario Provincial Police, Cornwall police, Ministry of the Attorney General, Upper Canada District School Board and Children's Aid Society.
The report was originally due July 31, but the inquiry asked for the deadline to be pushed back for editing, translating and typesetting.
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FACT BOX
Some of the report's recommendations include:
- Record keeping of incidents should be improved;
- An internal investigation is needed if a probation or parole officer is suspected or has been charged with sexual assault or abuse;
- The ministry should consult with justice partners, police and Crown attorneys to develop a protocol for sharing information regarding allegations of sexual abuse or assault;
- The ministry should make a public appeal, urging victims to come forward;
- Police should ensure that historical sexual assault cases are a high priority and treated with the same urgency as recent cases;
- Training on sexual assault or abuse should be part of regular police training;
- Police should offer support to victims and their families;
- A directive should be developed that requires police to inform public and religious institutions and justice partners that an allegation of sexual assault or abuse has been made against one of their employees;
- Bishops, priests, employees and volunteers should encourage people who disclose sexual abuse or assault to report the allegation to police
- The Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall should have rigorous procedures for evaluating candidates it plans to present for study at the seminary.
The inquiry was called in 2005 and testimony started in February 2006. In October 2008, Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley ordered the inquiry to finish testimony by the end of January.
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