ST. PAUL – A $50-million class-action lawsuit was certified in St. Paul on Jan. 21.
Initially filed by Cynthia Iris Youngchief in 2019, the lawsuit alleges Indigenous students who attended École Notre Dame in Bonnyville after the Indian Day School on Kehewin Cree Nation was shut down in 1964 were subjected to physical, psychological, and sexual abuse.
The suit names Lakeland Catholic Separate School Division, the Diocese of St. Paul, the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta as defendants.
In his decision certifying the lawsuit, Justice James T. Neilson approved only three of the four.
“I find that the claim does not disclose a cause of action against Alberta in negligence. The plaintiff’s alleged breaches of duty may apply to the School District and its predecessors, but not to Alberta,” wrote Neilson.
The survivor class includes all Indigenous people who attended École Notre Dame in Bonnyville between Sept. 1, 1966 and June 28, 1974.
In the decision, Neilson noted the Diocese of St. Paul neither consented to nor opposed the certification of the lawsuit, but it “is not and admission of liability and is not an admission of any fact pleaded in the Claim.”
In a follow up interview, Diocese of St. Paul Bishop Gary Franken said “all I can say at this time is that we’re not able to comment as the case is still before the courts.”
“Lakeland Catholic School Division refrains from commenting on matters currently before the judicial system,” said the division in an e-mailed statement.
In an interview with Lakeland This Week, Leighton Grey, the lawyer representing the survivor class said Neilson’s decision not to certify the suit against Alberta is actually good news because it removes a future conflict between the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta over who should be responsible for paying out a successful claim.
“So we're hopeful, we’re guardedly optimistic, that what this is going to lead to is we'll be able to get into sincere settlement discussions, especially with the Government of Canada,” said Grey.
According to Grey about 200 people have come forward so far as members of the survivor class, but he estimated between 350 and 500 people would be eligible.
“These people are not getting any younger, and many of them died during COVID, for example,” said Grey, noting the initial claim was filed in 2019 and then held up by the closure of the courts during the pandemic.
“Time is really of the essence, and we'd like to get down to the business of trying to resolve these claims,” said Grey.
