WARNING: This article contains details about abuse.
Jean Simard says it took 25 years of therapy to process the abuse he suffered at the hands of staff at a Quebec City orphanage when he was 12 years old.
Nearly 50 years later, he is one of the former orphanage residents represented in a class-action lawsuit that just reached a $65 million settlement between local health authorities and the religious order that ran the Mont de Youville orphanage (the Sisters of Charity of Quebec).
The lawsuit represents people who claim they were victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse between 1925 and 1996.
Simard says that for months, the Mont-de-Houville man beat her two to three times a week.
“He beat me badly,” Simard said. “He hit me with a belt behind my back…. After he hit me he asked for a kiss. He was really perverted and sadistic.”
Simar said she ran away from the orphanage, committed a crime and was transferred to another “safer facility” before spending eight and a half years in prison.
He said he was relieved to hear the news of the settlement.
“We felt re-victimized through this process,” Simard told Radio-Canada.
“The aim was to get compensation for our suffering.”
Jean Simard says he was abused as a child in an orphanage.
Jean Simard says he was abused as a child in an orphanage. (Camille Carpentier/Radio-Canada)
Attorney Robert Kugler said after six years of working on the case, the parties reached the historic settlement through mediation.
The lawsuit was filed by law firms Kugler Kandestin and Casey Henry Saint-Hilaire and approved in 2020.
A class-action lawsuit against religious groups and local health officials will avoid a September trial.
“This is a wonderful settlement, the largest of its kind in a class action lawsuit in the history of Quebec, but it also shows how many people were affected by the abuse at this institution,” Kugler said.
“In some ways, this historic amount tells a sad historical story because it shows how many children were abused.”
He said the law firm took on the case after one of the orphanage's former residents expressed a desire to speak out.
“Rather than just acting for himself, and rather than continuing to suffer in silence, he agreed, and we agree, to file a class action lawsuit to ensure that many others also have access to justice,” Kugler said.
About 600 survivors have come forward so far, but Kugler said he expects more to come forward.
He says over the years, groups responsible for schools have tried to blame other parties, including insurance companies, school committees and Quebec's attorney general.
As part of the settlement, which has yet to be approved by a judge, the health authorities and religious groups have not admitted guilt or apologized.
Once the settlements are approved, lawyers will work with the victims to determine how much each plaintiff will receive, Kugler said.
If you have been sexually assaulted, you can get help through the Canadian End Violence database, crisis lines and local support services. If you are in immediate danger or your safety or the safety of those around you is at risk, call 911.
