Millions meant for residential school survivors spent on Catholic Church lawyers, administration: documents

Thursday, July 29, 2021 – by John McHutchion

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

Millions meant for residential school survivors spent on Catholic Church lawyers, administration: documents

The Roman Catholic Church spent millions of dollars that were supposed to go to residential school survivors on lawyers, administration, a private fundraising company and unapproved loans, according to documents obtained by CBC News.

The documents include a host of other revelations. They appear to contradict the Catholic Church's public claims about money paid to survivors.

"There are also a large number of serious accounting discrepancies that are alarming to Canada," states one document, a 53-page federal government "factum" summarizing the evidence in a 2015 court matter.

None of the other churches involved in the landmark Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement of 2005 — Anglican, United and Presbyterian — engaged in any of these practices. They all paid the full amounts agreed to years ago without incident.

The Catholic Church never ended up having to legally justify its activity. On the eve of the 2015 hearing on the matter, Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench Justice Neil Gabrielson approved the church's controversial buyout proposal, and the case was closed.

Advocates for survivors say they're disgusted and that the Catholic Church must be held accountable.

"This is unbelievably, absolutely gross. It's completely wrong," said Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former Saskatchewan provincial court judge and director of the University of British Columbia's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre in Vancouver. She reviewed the documents at CBC's request.

"How could anyone do something like this?"

None of the lawyers involved in the 2015 case could be reached for comment on Wednesday. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) declined an interview request. An official noted the CCCB was not a party to the settlement. Individual dioceses and orders created a corporation to oversee the deal.

More on this issue

Canadian rowers Filmer, Janssens win bronze in women's pair event at Tokyo Olympics

(Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters)

Caileigh Filmer of Victoria and Hillary Janssens of Surrey, B.C., celebrate with their bronze medals in their boat following the final of the women's pair event today at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo. Read more about Filmer and Janssens' race here.

In brief

British Columbia declared a COVID-19 outbreak in the Central Okanagan after a rapid rise in cases in the region and is reimposing a local mask mandate, as well as other public health measures. More than half of B.C.'s daily and active COVID-19 cases are concentrated in the area, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Wednesday. "We are concerned in public health about the rapid increase in the Central Okanagan, particularly around the Kelowna area," said Henry. Under the new health order, masks will be mandatory as of midnight in indoor public spaces for anyone over the age of 12. They are also being encouraged outdoors when people cannot physically distance themselves. Read more here on the outbreak.

Afghan interpreters and others who assisted the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan have been told they have only three days to apply for a new government program to resettle in Canada. The federal government announced last week a temporary new program to help interpreters and their families flee what Ottawa describes as a rapidly deteriorating situation in the war-ravaged country. Those workers are believed to face a growing risk of being targeted by the Taliban, which is making significant gains as the United States withdraws its combat forces from the country. Prospective applicants for the resettlement program were informed in an email Wednesday that they have just three days to submit their applications, which require the completion of multiple online forms and the scanning of documents. Late Wednesday, however, a government spokesperson insisted the 72-hour deadline is not set in stone. Read more on the resettlement.

Families who claim disgraced Ottawa fertility doctor Norman Barwin used the wrong sperm — or even his own sperm — in the conception of at least 100 children could receive a portion of a multi-million-dollar payout after a judge certified the class-action lawsuit launched in 2016. The Ontario Superior Court certified the class-action suit in the landmark case at a hearing on Wednesday, which includes a negotiated proposed settlement worth $13.375 million. The class action has grown to 226 members, including former patients and children conceived through artificial insemination — 17 of whom have discovered through DNA that Barwin is their biological father. The lead plaintiffs, Dan and Davina Dixon, had sought Barwin's help to conceive a child. Their daughter Rebecca was born in 1990. Only in recent years did the family learn that Barwin — not Dan Dixon — is Rebecca's biological father. Read more here on the proposed settlement.

Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson issued an apology yesterday in the wake of criticism of the team’s drafting of a hockey player who violated a woman’s consent. While playing in Sweden last season, Logan Mailloux secretly took photos of a consensual sexual encounter, then showed them to his teammates and revealed the woman's identity to them. She went to police, and he was charged with invasion of privacy and defamation. As he was a minor at the time, Mailloux was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to around $1,700. Mailloux asked the National Hockey League not to draft him, but the Habs picked him in the first round. “I understand that you expect more from us and we let you down. The Montreal Canadiens are more than a hockey team," Molson wrote in an open letter posted on the team's website. "Logan's actions do not reflect the values of our organization and I apologize for the pain this selection has caused." Read more on this story here

A week after the U.S. government surprised many by announcing the land border with Canada would remain closed for the time being, the exact reasons for that decision remain shrouded in secrecy. Not even members of Congress have been given a detailed explanation for the decision. New York State Rep. Brian Higgins said the lack of information is leading to confusion among his constituents. "The silence from this administration about the northern border is maddening," said Higgins, who has been asking for a meeting with officials in the administration of President Joe Biden to get an explanation. "With the border now closed for 16 months and counting, the people deserve to know what it will take to reopen the U.S. border to Canadians." News that the U.S. land border would remain closed until at least Aug. 21 came just after Ottawa announced that fully vaccinated Americans would be able to enter Canada starting Aug. 9. Read more on the border closure here.

A lack of rain since mid-June is breaking records in the Vancouver region and has led to steadily decreasing water levels in many parts of British Columbia. Spawning salmon are also at risk because warm water, coupled with low stream flows, can stress out the fish, leading to high mortality. The province's largest salmon river, the Fraser, is warmer than usual and has 27 per cent less water than normal, according to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Read more on how the lack of rain is affecting fish and crops in the province.

Now for some good news to start your Thursday: From our colleagues at As It Happens comes the story of the Canadian YouTubers who’ve built the world's brightest flashlight. The comically large flashlight shines at a record-breaking intensity, enough to light up an entire football field at night. It's called the Nitebrite 300, and it's the brainchild of Chris Thiele, an electronics designer who works for the powerhouse Canadian YouTube channel Hacksmith Industries in Kitchener, Ont. "There were other YouTube videos that did giant water guns ... and giant lasers and stuff like that. So we wanted to keep to the same type of theme and do something a little bit more technically challenged," Thiele said. Read more on the flashlight that shines at 501,031 lumens, a Guinness world record.

Get up to speed on what's happening at Tokyo 2020 in 5 minutes or less.

Sign up here

Why Simone Biles said 'no'

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles chose not to defend her title at the Tokyo Games this week, instead withdrawing from team and individual events, saying she needed to look after her mental health.

"We have to protect our minds and our bodies, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do," the American gymnast told reporters.

At just 24, she's inarguably the greatest gymnast in history and the pressure on Biles going into these Games was high. She described having "the weight of the world" on her shoulders ahead of the final.

Her decision has brought the subject of mental health in sports into the spotlight.

Professor, historian and podcaster Amira Rose Davis explains why Biles's decision to prioritize herself and the success of her team over individual Olympic glory is a momentous shift in the culture of sports as we know it.
Listen to today's episode

Today in history: July 29

1874: Social reformer J.S. Woodsworth is born. He helped form the Manitoba Independent Labour Party and was elected to the Commons in 1921. In 1926, he bargained his party's two votes for a promise by Prime Minister Mackenzie King to enact an old-age pension plan.

1981: Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in London's St. Paul's Cathedral. An estimated 750 million people worldwide watched the televised ceremony.

1984: Ottawa chef-caterer Linda Thom wins Canada's first summer Olympics gold medal in 16 years. Thom claimed the women's sport pistol title on the first day of competition in Los Angeles.

1998: The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rules that the federal government underpaid 200,000 employees in six wage categories dominated by women, and ordered Ottawa to pay nearly $3 billion in compensation.