FORT ALBANY (CANADA)
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) [Toronto, Canada]
April 10, 2025
By Kate Rutherford
Judge says Canada has met its obligation to survivors who have concluded the claims process
Warning: This story includes details of abuse at residential schools
A decades-long court fight between survivors of abuse at a notorious Catholic-run residential school in Fort Albany, and Canada, over disclosure of evidence, appears to have ended with a March 20, 2025 decision in Ontario Superior Court.
Led by former student and Fort Albany Chief, Edmund Metatawabin, the survivors of St. Anne’s had been seeking access to documents from criminal and civil trials connected to abuse allegations at the school, in order to consider reopening compensation claims.
They were also looking for a review of the government’s conduct in response to a 2014 court decision ordering the government to disclose those documents.
Federal lawyers asked the court to dismiss the survivors’ request on mainly technical terms, arguing Canada had met its obligations of disclosure.
Justice Benjamin T. Glustein wrote in his decision that Canada was not required to deliver updated reports or disclosure in concluded claims and that the survivors all had concluded claims, and had run out of time.
Between 1992 and 1997, Ontario Provincial Police, in response to abuse allegations, interviewed hundreds of witnesses and seized thousands of documents from church entities.
Survivors claimed they had been physically, psychologically and sexually assaulted, and punished with a cat-o-nine tails whip and a makeshift electric chair.
Seven former school officials were charged and five were convicted
The survivors argued the claims they had negotiated through an independent assessment process may not have been based on all pertinent information — including that covered in the OPP probe, and that the information may substantiate and support their claims.
That’s because Canada argued between 2006 and 2014, that it did not have documents on sexual abuse at St. Anne’s.
In 2014, the survivors won a court decision confirming Canada breached its disclosure obligations by failing to produce the transcripts, notes and other details of the criminal and civil proceedings.
One of the lawyers who represented the survivors, Fay Brunning, said the court did not enforce the disclosure of those documents, except in the case of one claimant who was granted a rehearing.
Brunning estimates that between 165 and 215 Indigenous claimants are owed access to documentation that would allow them to decide whether to reopen their claims, but with the lack of disclosure they are stuck not knowing if there is information that would make a difference.
“It is difficult to understand whether the government’s promise of truth and reconciliation to Indigenous people who suffered abuse at residential schools, has actually been fulfilled under these facts and circumstances,” said Brunning.
It is not clear yet what next steps the survivors may take given the decision seems to bring the court fight to a close.
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports.
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.