A collective action has just been authorized against the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate for alleged sexual assaults perpetrated mainly on members of indigenous communities. The charges took place from 1940 to the present day.
In his judgment rendered Tuesday, Judge Thomas M. David of the Superior Court indicates that the religious congregation did not oppose that a class action be authorized against it. The magistrate specifies that this does not mean that the Oblates admit “the veracity of the allegations”.
To date, 203 alleged victims have come forward to the law firm Arsenault, Dufresne, Wee, which is leading the case. The allegations target 39 religious, including Fathers Alexis Joveneau, Omer Provencher, Edmond Brouillard, Raynald Couture and Édouard Meilleur.
The law firm indicates that the Oblates were present in the Innu communities, but also in the Attikamekw, Anichinabe, Cree, Inuit communities and in non-Native communities.
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