Feds back off on attempt to delay judge’s ruling on Sixties Scoop

TORONTO — The federal government backed off on Friday from its widely panned last-minute plan to force a judge to delay his decision on the Sixties Scoop class-action lawsuit.

That means Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba will now rule on the long-running lawsuit as early as Tuesday.

In an email to the judge obtained by The Canadian Press, a senior Justice Department lawyer said it would not proceed with a formal motion to have him delay the decision.

The proposed motion, Barney Brucker said, was motivated by the “prospect of a negotiated resolution” to both the Ontario action led by plaintiff Marcia Brown Martel and other Sixties Scoop litigation before the courts in other provinces.

“The pan-Canadian resolution is intended to address in an integrated way matters which could not form part of any remedies granted by courts,” Brucker said. “In that sense, our purpose in seeking abeyance was not to delay justice for the Brown plaintiffs but rather to embrace broader justice for similarly situated persons.”

The situation erupted after Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett gave a vague statement last week that she wanted to negotiate with Sixties Scoop survivors. Days later, Brucker wrote Belobaba to ask him to delay a ruling he was poised to make on whether the federal government was liable to thousands of aboriginal children who were placed in non-Aboriginal homes.

The Ontario action, launched in 2009 and fought tooth and nail by Ottawa since then, seeks $1.3 billion on the grounds that the children suffered harm when the government negligently failed to ensure they retained their cultural identity.

Brown Martel’s lawyers, observers and even the judge himself called the delay request unprecedented and extraordinary. Brown Martel herself called it attempted political interference in the judicial system.

“When it comes to a court process, they have not acknowledged the wrongs, the detrimental history, that they have committed upon our people, our aboriginal children in this country,” she said this week. “They are trying to circumvent that legal process through political manoeuvring.”

Nevertheless, Belobaba said he would consider a formal written motion before deciding whether to grant it. That will no longer be needed.

In his email Friday, Brucker said the government wanted to pursue a “robust and expedited process of reconciliation for the whole of the country,” noting that some issues touch on provincial jurisdiction.

The judge thanked Brucker for the note, saying he was now in a position to release his ruling on Tuesday rather than on Wednesday as he had earlier indicated — and would do so unless there were objections.