Liberals to Finally Remove Timelines on Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Chronicle Herald
March 6, 2015

http://thechronicleherald.ca/editorials/1273157-editorial-liberals-to-finally-remove-timelines-on-sex-abuse-lawsuits

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Lena Diab. (HERALD FILE)

Let’s start with good news, which should not be overshadowed.

An appalling oversight in otherwise excellent new legislation passed just last fall divided sexual assault victims in Nova Scotia into two uneven — and hence unfair — classes.

The Limitation of Actions Act, introduced by the Liberals, removed the statute of limitations for victims of sexual crimes who wished to pursue civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The legislation, however, only applied going forward, not retroactively.

That meant people who’ve claimed past abuse, like the men who say they were sexually assaulted decades ago by Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh, were denied the same right to sue.

But on Thursday, thankfully, Justice Minister Lena Diab promised to amend the act during this spring’s legislature session to, in effect, fix that flaw. The change — which will remove the statute of limitations even for past victims of sexual crimes — will mean a “victim of sexual assault, regardless of when it happened ... can launch a civil claims suit,” said Ms. Diab.

Though many will want to see the details before fully celebrating, we welcome the government’s announced decision to make the law retroactive. It was the right thing to do.

Sexual abuse, especially of children, is a heinous crime. To give some victims in such cases the right to sue their tormentors, no matter how long ago incidents occurred, while denying other victims the same right, was unconscionable.

What remains unresolved, however, is why the Liberals insisted for so long last fall that retroactivity in waiving the statute of limitations was not possible.

During debate in the legislature in November, Tory justice critic Allan MacMaster put forward his own amendment calling for the act to apply retroactively. The government voted it down.

Apparently relying on advice from supposed experts in her department, Ms. Diab said that what Mr. MacMaster wanted “is not something that’s been done in Canada” and might not withstand a Charter challenge.

It seems the justice minister, however, was wrong. After a group of men who claimed they had been abused said there were at least four other provinces that gave such retroactive rights to victims, Premier Stephen McNeil promised to review and reconsider the matter.

Mr. MacMaster wondered why the justice minister and her experts didn’t know that. “I Googled the other acts. I quickly found the sections that pertained to victims of sexual assault and sexual abuse. It’s clearly laid out.”

It’s a very good question. Why didn’t Ms. Diab know?

The justice minister made her decisions based on departmental advice, she said. Why that advice was apparently faulty would be investigated.

“I will get to the bottom of this,” Ms. Diab said in November.

On Thursday, the justice minister pointed to places like B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Saskatchewan, where no timelines are placed on abuse lawsuits, as examples to emulate in legislation here.

That’s welcome news, as we’ve said. But we wonder if Ms. Diab will also publicly share if she’s yet gotten to “the bottom” of why she received such bad advice and, if so, what she’s discovered?