Court certifies class-action lawsuit alleging abuse of Indigenous children in northern Alberta school

A judge has certified a class-action lawsuit over alleged abuse of Indigenous children sent to a northeast Alberta Catholic school in the 1960s and 1970s.

Representative plaintiff Cynthia Iris Youngchief filed a lawsuit in 2019 against the federal and provincial governments, as well as local religious and school authorities.

Her statement of claim outlines allegations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse against Indigenous students at École Notre Dame in Bonnyville, Alta., about 240 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Children from Kehewin Cree Nation, located just south of Bonnyville, were sent to the school as day students after the federal government stopped operating the Indian day school in the community in 1964, according to legal filings in the case.

In a decision this week, Court of King's Bench Justice James Neilson certified the action against three proposed defendants: the federal government, the Diocese of Saint-Paul and the Lakeland Roman Catholic Separate School Division.

But Neilson dismissed the application to include the Alberta government as a defendant, finding that the alleged breaches of duty might apply to the school district, but not the province.

The decision confirms the survivor class as Indigenous people who attended the school from 1966 to 1974.

Lawyer Leighton Grey, with class counsel Grey Wowk Spencer LLP, called it a "good news, bad news situation" for the class action to proceed with the provincial government excluded.

But he said it's time for the case to move forward. He estimates there may be 350 to 500 eligible class members — most who lived in Kehewin Cree Nation at the time, but possibly also others.

"The claim itself relates to a period going back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, so a lot of these people are passing on. A number of them died during COVID," Grey said.

"They want to get on with resolution of this. That's the big directive I'm getting from my clients right now … and so I'm hopeful that now that this decision has been made, we'll be able to get on with that task."

The former students' claim describes generalized degradation aimed at the school's Indigenous population, as well as "common incidents" of physical abuse, including public whippings and having their hair cut to shame and devalue their culture. The allegations have not been proven in court.

The next step is filing a certification order and making a plan for how the case will proceed. Grey said he is seeking a settlement negotiation with the federal government.

"[The plaintiffs] have seen claims that were filed after ours that the government of Canada has settled," he said.

"So I would say the mood of my clients is guarded optimism with a sprinkling of impatience."