NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2009AG0018-000767 December 14, 2009

Ministry of Attorney General

 

GOVERNMENT APPROVES PROPOSED WOODLANDS SETTLEMENT

 

VICTORIA – The Province has negotiated a proposed settlement in a class action brought by former residents of Woodlands school in New Westminster, Attorney General Michael de Jong announced today.

 

“We are hopeful the courts will endorse this settlement as well,” said de Jong. “It is the result of extensive negotiations to find a fair approach to compensate Woodlands residents who suffered abuse.”

 

As the settlement is subject to approval by B.C. Supreme Court, details will be released if the court approves the settlement. A hearing date has not yet been set.

 

The proposed settlement agreed to with the plaintiff class addresses all claims for abuse, in accordance with the law and where liability has occurred, that took place after Aug. 1, 1974, the date on which the Crown Proceeding Act came into force.

 

It is consistent with an October 2005 B.C. Court of Appeal decision (Arishenkoff v. British Columbia) that held the Province cannot be sued for alleged abuse that occurred prior to that date. The Supreme Court of Canada denied the plaintiffs leave to appeal the law established by that decision.

 

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Contact:	David Townsend Senior Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Attorney General 250 387-4962 250 889-5945

 

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.

 

BACKGROUNDER

 

December 14, 2009                                                                              Ministry of Attorney General

 

WOODLANDS CLASS ACTION HISTORY

 

·         Woodlands School was a provincial institution that provided residential care between 1898 and 1996 for people with developmental and/or physical disabilities. The facility closed in 1996.

 

·         In 2000, former ombudsman Dulcie McCallum was asked to prepare a review of Woodlands School for the Ministry of Children and Families (now the Ministry of Children and Family Development) after several complaints were made by former school residents, alleging physical and sexual abuse. The Province disagrees with McCallum’s suggestion that a systemic environment of abuse existed at the school. 

·         New Westminster police investigated the complaints, asking former Woodlands employees who may have witnessed abuse to come forward. To date, no charges have been laid.

 

·         The class action was certified in March 2005. Settlement discussions began in September 2005.

 

·         The settlement model allows for adjudication of individual claims by residents who can demonstrate they suffered abuse. The class includes all persons resident at Woodlands after Aug. 1, 1974 who suffered physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse and have suffered injury, loss or damage as a result thereof.

 

·         The plaintiffs allege the Province was negligent or in breach of its fiduciary duty in failing to take reasonable measures in the operation or management of Woodlands to protect residents from abusive conduct of a physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological nature by employees, agents or other persons similarly confined in the institution.

 

·         Approximately 1,100 potential class members resided at Woodlands between Aug. 1, 1974 and Dec. 31, 1996.

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Contact:

David Townsend Senior Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Attorney General 250 387-4962 250 889-5945

 

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.