Atikamekw Indian day school students sue federal government over abuse

Twenty-two former Indian day school students in Quebec are suing Canada over sexual abuse suffered at the federally run school during the 1970s.

The plaintiffs from Manawan, an Atikamekw community 270 kilometres north of  Montreal, filed a civil suit in Quebec Superior Court last summer, arguing the former Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is responsible for the abuse by two former teachers. New details in the case recently became available.

One of the teachers, Roger Garceau, had his teaching license revoked in 1961 due to "immorality," according to provincial correspondence obtained by CBC News.  Yet  Garceau was allowed to teach in Manawan between 1976 and 1978. 

He died in 2005.

"The 20 victims of Roger Garceau are victims of a man who had already lost his teaching license for sexually abusing children before the federal government hired him," said David Schulze, a Montreal lawyer representing the Manawan group.

"If they had done what they were supposed to do, he would have never stepped foot in that community."

The Manawan Indian Day School was a Roman Catholic-run school administered by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from 1928 until 1990, when it was taken over by the Conseil Des Atikamekw De Manawan.

Garceau lived in a house next to the school that was owned by Indian Affairs. He lured students there with "games, comics and food" according to 20 plaintiffs. The remaining two plaintiffs say they were abused a decade earlier by former teacher Raymond Bédard, who also lived in a house owned by Indian Affairs. Bédard is also deceased. 

40 years to open up

The names of plaintiffs have been redacted in court documents to keep their identity confidential, but plaintiff Reginald Flamand came forward to Radio-Canada to say the memory of Garceau still makes him feel sick.

He was abused by Garceau, for the first time, at just 10 years old.

"It was at home or at school, where he closed all the curtains," he said.

The 52-year-old didn't talk much about the abuse he experienced, and said he struggled with alcoholism as a result. 

"After 40 years, I met the lawyers. I once spoke to my wife before she asked me the question 'are there other victims?' " said Flamand. 

"Forty years to resist [talking about the abuse]. It was so heavy for me, I talked to the lawyers lately, in detail. It has been very hard since then."

Other plaintiffs say they continue to suffer emotional and psychological problems, and trouble with  interpersonal relationships. Each plaintiff is seeking damages between $85,000 and $300,000.

Indian day schools

The Manawan Indian Day School was one of 65 day schools that operated in Quebec, according to the Federal Indian Day School Class Action Settlement currently waiting approval by the Federal Court. 

The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said Tuesday all students who attended the school will be eligible to apply for compensation through the proposed day school class action settlement. It declined to comment on the separate Manawan abuse case.

"The mistreatment of Indigenous children is a tragic and shameful part of Canada's history. The Government of Canada is deeply committed to advancing reconciliation and healing. Canada continues to promote cooperation with involved parties to resolve these and other Indigenous childhood claims outside of the courts," the department said in a statement to CBC News.

Schulze said his clients' case will proceed despite any class action settlement which he says doesn't give former students enough time to tell their stories, especially ones dealing with childhood sexual abuse. Once the proposed settlement agreement is approved, claimants would have only 30 months to apply for compensation. In contrast, former students had five years to apply under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.  

"Our clients in Manawan show why that's so badly thought out," said Schulze. "The civil code of Quebec would give them 30 years, and not from when it happened but from when they realized the effect it had on them."

He said another victim, who has not yet filed to be a plaintiff, only recently joined the lawsuit even though the Schulze's firm held a community meeting in Manawan over a year ago.

"All the other Roger Garceau's across Canada, we will never know about them," he said.