scandals

CBC Lite - April 1, 2025 St. John's, NL - A Newfoundland court has increased the total liability of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s to $121 million after a successful appeal by 59 victims of sexual abuse. These victims, previously excluded from compensation, were awarded $15.3 million in addition to the $104-million settlement approved in 2024 for nearly 300 victims. The case involves abuse by the Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel orphanage and other Catholic institutions in Newfoundland and British Columbia. Despite selling over 100 properties, the corporation has only raised $40 million—far short of the required funds. A previous $22 million was distributed to victims, but insurance coverage was denied. The provincial government may also face legal pressure to contribute to compensation. Justice Garrett Handrigan ruled that the corporation remains liable, reversing decisions that denied compensation to some victims. This includes 12 claimants in British Columbia, where church officials knowingly transferred abusive clergy from Newfoundland. However, past settlements will be deducted from new awards. The court will finalize this latest settlement after May 1.

PBS News - February 17, 2025 An investigation at an Indian residential school in Canada is the focus of the documentary, “Sugarcane," named after a Native reservation in British Columbia. The film is up for an Academy Award, and has already made history: it's the first time an Indigenous director from North America has been nominated for an Oscar. Jeffrey Brown spoke to the filmmakers for our series, "CANVAS."

Yahoo News - February 18, 2025 Ottawa, ON - Pope Francis on Tuesday said he had accepted the resignation of a Canadian bishop who has been named in a class-action lawsuit against the church that alleges sexual assault. The pope did not give a reason for replacing Jean-Pierre Blais, the 75-year-old bishop of Baie-Comeau in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, and the diocese said the resignation was not linked to the allegations. He also named a replacement: Reverend Pierre Charland, 62, currently a leading member of Canada's Roman Catholic Franciscan order. In a statement, the pope noted that any bishop who turns 75 is automatically requested to offer his resignation. The pope makes a decision on whether to accept the offer "after he has examined all the circumstances", the statement said.

CBC Lite - February 11, 2025 Prince George, BC - A lawsuit had alleged sexual assault in the early 1990s, while the plaintiff was a student. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, B.C., says it hopes a $3.4 million settlement gives an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a school teacher "some degree of restitution for the harm that was so unjustly inflicted upon him by his abuser." The settlement by the diocese and St. Thomas More Collegiate, a Catholic school in Burnaby, B.C., was announced in a statement released by lawyer Sandra Kovacs, who represented the anonymous man in the lawsuit. Also named in the lawsuit was former teacher Alfred Patrick Quigley, who the anonymous plaintiff said sexually abused him in the 1990s. 

The Catholic Register - January 27, 2025 [Note: Counsel for survivors is supportive of the Archdiocese’s appeal as it will be the survivor-claimants within the Insolvency of the Archdiocese who would benefit if the appeal were to succeed and these policies of insurance were determined to be valid.] St. John's, Newfoundland - The Archdiocese of St. John’s is attempting to overturn a decision by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador that released Guardian Insurance from covering part of its settlement with clergy abuse survivors. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCEC) filed an appeal after Justice Peter Brown ruled that the archdiocese failed to disclose instances of clerical sexual abuse when applying for an insurance policy in 1980, which led to the nullification of the policy. RCEC’s legal team argued that the court made errors in not properly weighing evidence and claimed that sexual abuse was not a significant factor in underwriting insurance policies in the early 1980s. They also contested the claim that the archdiocese made false representations about its knowledge of abuse. The case involves the abuse by Fr. James Hickey, who was convicted of numerous sexual offenses, and other priests within the archdiocese. Survivors of the abuse have already received compensation, with more plaintiffs recently gaining the right to seek compensation. The archdiocese has raised funds through the sale of property to cover the settlements, but the total amount needed has increased as more claimants come forward.

CBC News - December 21, 2024  Dozens of abuse victims across Canada, whose claims for compensation were previously rejected, have won a legal victory against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's. In a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Garrett A. Handrigan determined that 59 individuals who had their claims disallowed are entitled to compensation. These claims were part of a larger settlement process that had initially approved $105 million in compensation for 367 survivors, but some claims were rejected. The archdiocese has been selling properties to fund the compensation, raising around $44 million, and is in discussions with insurers and the provincial government for additional funds.

Calgary Sun - December 5, 2024 Calgary, AB - It must be utterly horrible to be haunted by one’s past, especially one that stretches back more than four decades. But such is the reality for Bobbie Bees, the plaintiff at the centre of a class-action lawsuit against the federal government over acts of sexual abuse by a Canadian Armed Forces chaplain at an Edmonton base before the priest/soldier’s court martial in 1980. Father Angus McRae, who was a captain stationed at Canadian Forces Base Namao between 1978 and 1980, was a child molesting pedophile who left in his wake several broken children.

CBC News - December 5, 2024 The article discusses the ongoing frustration of former students and complainants in the case of Edward English, a former Christian Brother who was convicted of child abuse at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland. English, after being moved to British Columbia in 1975, is now accused of abusing students at two Catholic schools there, but no charges have been laid against him in BC, despite a year passing since his arrest. The article also touches on the history of English's abuse, including his role in the Mount Cashel scandal and his eventual conviction in 1991. The legal system’s failure to pursue charges in BC has left victims feeling hopeless, with some suffering severe emotional consequences.

World News - November 10, 2024 Iraq is poised to pass a new law that would lower the legal age of consent from 18 to nine, allowing men to marry young girls, according to a new report. The Shia conservative groups that dominate Iraq’s parliament have proposed an amendment to the country’s “personal status law” that could see a Taliban-style rollback of all women’s rights . The chance would allow young girls to be married off and put nearly all family decisions in the hands of religious authorities, said Raya Faiq, who is coordinating a challenge against the bill with female Iraqi representatives. “This is a catastrophe for women,” Faiq told The Guardian . “This law legalizes child rape.”