Supreme Court ruling in Blackwater welcome

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On Oct. 21, after many twists and turns in the case, the Supreme Court of Canada issued the final word on Blackwater, a claim for compensation for abuse experienced at the United Church-run Port Alberni Indian Residential School.

The case is named after the original lead claimant, Willie Blackwater, who is no longer part of the case. Frederick Barney, now the lead claimant, will receive $200,000 in damages.

Henry Arthur Plint, a dormitory supervisor at the school, was convicted of the sexual abuse of several young boys at the school. They sued the government and the church, saying both parties should have known that Plint was using his position of authority to abuse students.

The trial judge ruled the federal government was 75 per cent "vicariously liable" and the church was 25 per cent responsible.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal applied a doctrine of "charitable immunity" to exempt the church from liability and ruled the federal government should pay 100 per cent of the damages.

But the country's highest court decided the trial judge had it right in the first place.

The decision, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, reaffirmed that the federal government and the church are both individually and jointly liable for damages.

An Assembly of First Nations' press release noted that a plaintiff in the Barney case can now recover 100 per of his losses against either the federal government or the church. If the federal government compensates a plaintiff in full, the government can, if it wishes, recover 25 per cent of its payment from the church.

"Today's decision confirms our belief that the federal government must now accept 100 per cent liability for the tragic circumstances of the residential schools," stated National Chief Phil Fontaine. "While churches may have run many of the schools, they did so at the behest of and with the approval of the Crown. Ultimately, the federal government established the residential schools, was in a supervisory position for the schools, and is responsible for what happened at the schools. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial judge's finding in Barney that the federal

government was actually in a better position than the church to supervise the situation and prevent the loss. The Supreme Court's decision makes it clear that the government has no excuse for not paying damages in legal actions on residential schools."

First Nations Summit leader Edward John also hailed the decision. "We feel a critical part of the healing process the victims and their families continue to go through is a formal recognition that both Canada and the church are to blame for the physical, mental, social and cultural abuses suffered in the Indian residential school system," he said.