KAMLOOPS (CANADA)
Global News [Toronto, Canada]
October 31, 2024
By Victoria Femia
[Includes brief video containing interview excerpts not transcribed in the printed story.]
After 60 years, Syilx Okanagan woman Laurie Wilson is taking her story of alleged abuse to B.C.’s highest court.
From 1963 to 1970 Wilson attended St James Parish School in Vernon, B.C., which accepted both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. She says the Catholic school dehumanized Indigenous children while stripping them of their culture.
“I never thought I was anything but a beautiful little girl, very loved, I never thought there was anything wrong with me. But in the first week I knew what was wrong with me,” said Wilson.
“It was blatantly said that we didn’t have the same brains as the other kids, that we were heathens, we didn’t have souls.”
The lawsuit filed Friday at the BC Supreme Court against the federal government and the Kamloops Diocese details the alleged abuse Wilson suffered.
“Telling the plaintiff her skin was black because she never washed and that she was ‘dirty,’” reads the lawsuit.
“Permitting the children to routinely taunt Indigenous children, including the plaintiff, with racial slurs.”
Wilson also alleges sexual harm, with court documents detailing at least two occasions where a monsignor sat Wilson on his lap and applied pressure with his hand on her vaginal region.
“These can be vigorously defended claims. Having said that, I’ve seen a bit of a shift. Some dioceses are interested in reconciliation and resolution prior to trial now,” said Sandra Kovacs, Wilsons’ lawyer.
“We have to listen to these stories if we’re going to prevent them, prevent this kind of abuse from happening in the future.”
Global News reached out to the defendants in this case.
The Diocese of Kamloops said, “It is committed to responding fairly and compassionately to all claims of historic abuse.”
“The Government of Canada will review the statement of claim once they receive it,” said Eric Head, spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada.
These claims have yet to be proven in court.