The Superior Court of Quebec has authorized a multi-million dollar agreement to compensate victims of sexual assault committed by members of the Saint-Gabriel Brothers congregation.
This is a victory for the more than 70 victims who have taken this collective action against the congregation since 2019.
The settlement fund will be in an amount varying between $9,405,000 and $26,895,000 depending on the number of victims who register. Members now have three months from October 12 to identify themselves with the Arsenault Dufresne Wee law firm, by email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 514-527-8903.
The collective authorization request was submitted in December 2019 and authorized a year later. A total of 76 members are currently registered with the law firm.
They all claim to have suffered sexual assault from members of the Congregation of the Saint-Gabriel Brothers in Quebec between 1940 and today. Several victims were young boys.
“I was just a child. A child of barely 10 years old, registered as a boarder at Collège St-Gabriel, on the slopes of Mont Saint-Bruno. A child who knew nothing about sexuality, deviance and the harm it could cause,” said one of the victims in testimonies given in court documents.
In the 1950s while I was at the Napoléon Courtemanche school in Montreal-East in elementary school, I was sexually abused by a brother from Saint-Gabriel and this abuse affected my health and my life. I kept this secret all my life […].
Excerpt from a victim’s testimony
A feeling of justice
Although compensation will never be able to eliminate attacks, it brings a certain feeling of justice, many add in their testimonies.
“The recent news of this class action against this congregation has revived the old wound that I have carried since childhood,” we can read. But it also allowed me to hope for a certain relief at the prospect that this unjust and odious act committed against me, and which had remained unpunished until then, would finally be recognized and compensated. »
“This unexpected appeal represents the first real opportunity to say things, to denounce these actions, these attacks committed against me and which have marked my life, my daily life, my intimate relationships,” adds another victim.
Retired former Superior Court Chief Justice Jacques Fournier was named the adjudicator for the victims’ claims.
Please note that people who have already signed an individual release in favor of the Brothers of Saint-Gabriel, in connection with allegations of sexual assault, are excluded from these regulations. Those who would have been part of the National Reconciliation Program with the orphans of Duplessis too.