Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 25 he Truth and Reconciliation Commis- sion held its closing ceremony in Otta- wa earlier this year with much attention and promise that Canada and its first peoples will finally be able to recon- cile after years of damage caused by the Indian Residential School experi- ence. For many, the TRC offered for- mer students a chance to share their experiences in the church- and government-run institutions that stripped away their language, culture, and childhood. For others, it was a time to reflect on the last 20 years when the first residential school lawsuits started to make their way through Canada's judicial system and leak into the media. At that time, the public knew very little about Indian residential schools, but was about to learn of the horrors that went on inside those mostly unknown-to-the-public institutions. Canada's dark secret comes to light It was a quiet December evening for Regina Leader Post beat report- er Trevor Sutter. The large, dimly lit newsroom was empty with all the other reporters calling it a day hours earlier. "You're on alert to pick up whatever coverage needs to be picked up overnight," recalls Sutter describing the graveyard shift. He was keeping an ear to the police scanner finishing up some stories when around midnight the phone rang. "He didn't make much sense at first, but he kept on mentioning being abused at the Gordon Residential School," says Sutter. The guy on the other end didn't want to give out his name and sounded distraught, but Sutter managed to get his telephone number. The next day, Sutter tracked down the midnight caller, who lived just a few blocks from the newspaper. Sutter knocked on the door and remembers the man had two little kids running around when the door opened. At first, the guy denied calling Sutter the previous evening, but, after some discussion, he began to repeat what he told the reporter over the phone. After their meeting, Sutter headed down to the federal court- house and found a file that contained more information with details that had a calculated amount for the lawsuit settlements. "He gave me enough information to allow me to do searches in the court. He gave me details and names and stuff like that," says Sutter. "Some- body left a list of out-of-court settlements of the names and the amount paid. Normally, that doesn't go into the court record. It was a hand-scribbled note. It had about 20 names and the amount was pretty significant." Sutter found a cache of information containing lawsuits filed by former Gordon Indian Residential School students against the federal government and the school's top administrator, William Peniston Starr. The statement of claims arose from a 1993 convic- tion that found Starr guilty of 10 counts of sexual assault against students from the residential school over a 16-year period. "The conviction planted a seed in my head the conviction might not be an isolated case," says Sutter. He was right. Starr later admitted to abusing hundreds of students over a 30-year period. Jeff Scott is a Regina lawyer who represented many of the former Gordon Residential School students who filed the claims against Starr and the Government of Canada. Scott grew up about 72 kilometres north of the George Gordon First Nation. "I didn't even know about the Indian Residential Schools until I was retained in the early 1990s." It wouldn't take long for Scott to learn about the institutions. He recalls feeling shocked when he first heard his cli- ent tell of the abuse at the hands of Starr. "And the shock probably extended to wondering how did this happen, how were these indi- viduals abused by these former employees, by this former employee for this period of time without any intervention," says Scott. "It was shock and bewilderment and a great deal of concern for my client and then my clients." Scott started getting more and more clients as word spread among other former students. He developed a reputation as some- one who would listen and could be trusted. "I think he had the right approach. He listened to stories and he wasn't just building cases," says Sutter about the impressions he got from Scott while following the story. "Lawyers are a lot like journalists as they tend to listen for things to help them build their case. He was a rare one, but what came after that scared me, the quick lawsuits, the ones that ran around door knocking on reserves to sign people up and I think that did happen." T PHOTOS: 1. ACT FOR GRADUAL CIVILIZATION OF THE INDIAN 2. GORDON RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL (ENGRACIA DE JESUS MATIAS ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS) 3. MOHAWK INSTITUTE (ENGRACIA DE JESUS MATIAS ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS) 4. SOEURS DU SACRE-COEUR D'OTTAWA, CIRCA 1960 (LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/ PA-195120) 5. MORLEY, ALTA. INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL, CIRCA 1950 (UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA ARCHIVES). beginning, dedicated lawyers been instrumental in bringing the abuses of residential school By Mervin Brass help survivors heal. issue into the open and working to 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. G CAREY SHAW

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