Victim says latest snub perpetuates lifetime of trauma
George Paul says he is still being victimized decades after suffering abuse at the Nova Scotia School for Boys in Shelburne in the 1970s.
Paul and his lawyer Mike Dull were supposed to have a judicial settlement conference on Thursday, Nov. 7, where a judge would help them reach a fair resolution with representatives of the Nova Scotia Department of Justice. But the day before the provincial reps pulled the plug.
"George was really looking forward to that today," Dull said last Thursday. "He paid his way down from Toronto to be here for it . . . And then yesterday afternoon, we got word that the government was not going to attend. That they couldn't get instruction.
"This has been built up for over two decades, and today was the day that finally he would have a say and voice and justice."
Even the reason he was sent to the Shelburne facility in the first place was a miscarriage of justice, Paul said. He was convicted of damaging a public building but he was in hospital with two broken legs, a broken arm and a neck fracture at the time he was supposed to have committed the crime.
"My medical records would tell the story, paint a picture of the misjustice that I faced during that time period," Paul said.
Originally from Indian Brook First Nation, Paul has lived a hard life since he was sent to the reform school in his early teens in 1975-76. He was sexually and physically abused in the institution, an experience that left him emotionally damaged. In the years since, he has been in and out of prison, battling substance and alcohol addictions.
All that time, he has sought justice, writing countless letters and launching legal challenges. Now living in Toronto, he has taken a financial hit to travel to Halifax to attend the settlement conference, only to be told it won't happen.
"My voice is not only on behalf of me," Paul said last Thursday afternoon. "I do have kids and grandchildren but I also have a people, too, that are affected by the justice system. My voice was based on all of them.
"Today, they just trashed it. And I feel like I'm being manipulated again by the system and it costs me a lot of money."
Allegations of decades of abuse at the facility that came to be known as the Shelburne Youth Centre surfaced in the 1990s. The facility itself closed in 2004, with the Waterville Youth Centre becoming the location for all young offenders.
In 1993, Patrick MacDougall was convicted of five counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency. Later that year, he pleaded guilty to new charges of indecent assault and gross indecency. He was sentenced to a total of 11 years for all those offences. Two others, George Moss and Douglas Gerald Hollett were convicted on charges related to female inmates in the girls' section of the facility.
The province launched a compensation program that saw more than 1,200 people put in claims. The program was shut down in 1996.
But Paul had started his fight years before, in the late 1980s. He says government gave him a hard time because he also launched a complaint against the RCMP, saying they put a gun in his mouth and tried to get him to admit to a killing he did not commit.
Because Paul was in prison when the compensation program was in place, he wasn't contacted about it. In 20032004, he started writing letters again but was told he was too late and advised to get a lawyer to file a lawsuit.
"They made excuses that they couldn't find me, even though I was inside the justice system, they couldn't find me. But they wanted me to compromise my statement, they wanted me to withdraw my complaint against the RCMP before they gave me anything. I refused to do that, so I've been battling with them for the last 30, 40 years."
He contacted Dull three years ago and they launched the lawsuit within about six months. The long battle has become an ingrained part of him, now.
"So I now I voice my concern for my people, and the misjustice that my people face, because I'm not the only one. There are many of them out there just like me."
Dull said he still doesn't know the reason for the last-minute cancellation of the judicial meeting.
"They said they couldn't get instructions, so I don't know what that means," he said. "They've had 30 years to get instructions, I suppose. They've certainly had three years to get instructions since he filed the claim and they've had eight months or so to get instructions since we agreed on this day in court, today."
Paul said it's a slap in the face. "They'll get up and they'll apologize and they'll swear they will never do it again but they do it anyways . . . But my battle against the system is not over yet. I'm not about to lay down and let them walk over me."
Department of Justice spokeswoman Sarah Levy MacLeod said via email that the province does not comment on ongoing litigation, nor on settlement negotiations.
"We treat allegations of abuse very seriously, and with respect for the trauma victims have experienced," she said.