Class Action Lawsuit for Girls Abused in BC Institutions

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has certified a class action lawsuit for girls who were incarcerated at the Industrial Home for Girls and later the Willingdon School for Girls from 1914 to 1973. Survivors can now seek damages from Canada, the province, and a doctor who worked there for alleged widespread physical, sexual, and mental abuse. The facility began on Vancouvers Cassiar Street, relocated to Burnaby, and got its new name in 1959 before shutting down in 1973. Girls aged six to eighteen ended up there under old laws for issues like incorrigibility, sexual immorality, or for Indigenous girls, being intoxicated off reserve. Allegations detail forced sterilizations, routine genital exams on arrival and after escapes, plus two weeks in solitary confinement known as the hole. An Indigenous subclass highlights overrepresentation of First Nations girls, cultural suppression, and displacement from distant communities. The court greenlit claims like negligence, battery, and fiduciary breaches against the defendants. Lead plaintiffs include a woman held in 1971 to 1972 and a Cree-Métis survivor from 1968 to 1971. Lawyers expect thousands of potential members, though many from that era have passed away. Filed in 2021, the case could drag on for years, while the province reviews its next steps.

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