Sexual abuse settlements have cost Yukon $2.5M
About 40 cases launched against territory since 2000, justice minister says
WHITEHORSE— The Yukon government has spent $2.5 million on settling approximately 40 sexual abuse lawsuits since 2000, the territory’s justice minister says.
Justice Minister Tracy McPhee’s acknowledgment comes weeks after two Toronto Star stories, also published in the Yukon News, revealed that the territorial government has been quietly settling lawsuits over sexual abuse by a former school principal identified only as “J.V.” Star reporter Jesse Winter uncovered at least seven lawsuits involving J.V. and found that the settlements often involved confidentiality agreements that prevent the victims from talking about the settlements.
The Yukon News has since identified at least one more sexual abuse case involving another governmentaffiliated official that was settled.
“Some cases have been dismissed or discontinued, and most have been settled . . . Settlements are tailored to the individual circumstances of each case, therefore not all settlement amounts are the same,” McPhee said in the statement.
The territorial government told Winter, before his stories were published, that it could not disclose how many sexual abuse cases existed or how much it has spent settling them.
The government and the justice department declined to comment on how many of the “approximately” 40 cases had actually been settled, dismissed or discontinued, if any cases are still active, the range of settlement payouts and how many cases, if any, were launched before 2000.
In an emailed statement, the communications director for the minister’s office said McPhee is “committed to reviewing the available information and providing as much in- formation as possible to the public.”
In the statement, made Monday, McPhee said that lawyers for the government have “never insisted on non-disclosure clauses that would prevent a victim from disclosing their personal circumstances, including any details about any abuse they suffered.”
“Our focus has always been on ensuring that the actual settlement negotiations and settlement details remain confidential. This is not to deter victims from coming forward but to encourage settlement by allowing for detailed discussions about themerits of each case by all parties,” the statement says. “We believe that coming to a settlement is always a better alternative for those involved, but in particular for the victim.”
Dan Shier, a Whitehorse lawyer who has represented clients in cases involving J.V., said he thought McPhee’s statement was a “positive step.”
He disagreed that confidentiality clauses “encourage settlement.”
“It just doesn’t work,” Shier said. “So what (McPhee is) saying is that they’ve never tried to stop people talking about their experience and that’s fine, that’s never been part of a confidentiality agreement that I know of.”