Mediation falls apart in B.C. Christian Brothers case after more than 200 students come forward

A case that began with one man's allegations against a Catholic school teacher surreptitiously shipped across the country has now grown into a behemoth class-action lawsuit with more than 200 claimants.

That class action — involving a pair of British Columbia private schools, the Archdiocese of Vancouver, and four Christian Brothers — is now heading to trial, after attempts to mediate the case outside the courtroom fell through.

A key component of the case will be proving the schools had knowledge that six Christian Brothers sent from Newfoundland to British Columbia were abusive toward children.

"We were, quite frankly, surprised with the number of students who have come forward to provide accounts of physical and sexual abuse at both schools," said Joe Fiorante, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs.

"What's shocking to us is that the abuse was able to continue for so long without there being any real form of public investigation or scrutiny into it, especially following the exposure of the Mount Cashel scandal."

Fiorante said this case is the first to fully examine the actions of the Christian Brothers from Mount Cashel after they were shipped to Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby.

The case started with Darren Liptrot, a former student at Vancouver College, who said he was physically and sexually abused by teacher Edward English.

Unbeknownst to the students in the school at the time, English had confessed to abusing boys at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's in 1975. The province, police and Christian Brothers concocted a coverup, sending English and fellow brother Alan Ralph — who also confessed — to British Columbia to avoid charges.

News of the coverup broke in 1989. Liptrot didn't find out until 2014, bringing back painful memories of his time at the school.

"It was cloaked in fear and [teachers] used God as a weapon," Liptrot told CBC News on Tuesday. "Those men had no business educating boys."

Liptrot filed his lawsuit in 2021, suspecting he wasn't the only one.

He had no idea more than 200 people would come forward. Given all he's learned since, Liptrot said he doesn't think the number will stop there.

"In the beginning, I didn't think it would be so broad," Liptrot said. "Now, at this point, I don't think it's broad enough."

Fiorante's firm, CFM Lawyers, is appealing to the public to come forward if they were abused, or if they witnessed abuse at the two schools. Fiorante also believes there's more information still to uncover, and more plaintiffs to come forward.

Hopes for mediation dashed

St. Thomas More Collegiate and Vancouver College sparked hope in 2023 when both schools published memos on their websites signalling their intent to settle the lawsuit through mediation.

That would have avoided the potential for a prolonged legal battle. The Mount Cashel civil actions, for example, are still ongoing — more than 25 years after first being filed.

While Fiorante couldn't comment on what happened during mediation, he confirmed that the decision to head to trial is a consequence of stalled talks at the negotiating table.

Liptrot said he lost faith in the process soon after joining the mediation calls, which he said were bogged down by lawyers from the defendants' insurance companies.

"I knew early on in that mediation process that it was a convoluted mess," he said. "And here we are."

The lawsuit initially centred around six Christian Brothers moved from St. John's, but has since grown to include anyone with claims of abuse against any staff member at the two schools. 

A dozen of those 200 men also joined the bankruptcy proceeding involving the Archdiocese of St. John's, claiming the church in Newfoundland was responsible for the sexual abuse they endured in British Columbia. While their claims were initially denied by the independent claims officer in that case, they were successful in appealing the decision.

Fiorante said their claims are now being reassessed, assigning a dollar value to the church's liability to each of those men.

The trial involving Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate is set to begin on Oct. 14.

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