VICTORIA – The provincial government must come to the table and negotiate a fair resolution with survivors of abuse at Woodlands School excluded from a settlement reached earlier this week, the New Democrats said today.

“This is about doing what’s right. And the ethical thing for the government to do is to sit down with all Woodlands survivors not covered by the agreement and work out a fair solution,” said New Democrat Attorney General critic Leonard Krog.Leonard Krog

“These are people who suffered abuse and mistreatment while in a government-run facility, and as a society we have a moral obligation to do what we can to help acknowledge and right that wrong.”

A settlement agreement reached between former residents of Woodlands School and the provincial government will allow approximately 1,100 survivors to apply for compensation for abuse and mistreatment they suffered at the institution.

However, the government has excluded from the settlement approximately 500 survivors who attended the school before August 1, 1974, when British Columbia brought in the Crown Proceedings Act; the act that for the first time allowed the provincial government to be held liable in a court of law.

Maurine Karagianis“There is no legal reason for the B.C. Liberal government to turn away survivors of abuse at Woodlands simply because they left before 1974,” said Krog, who noted the government is not restricted from negotiating an out-of-court agreement with survivors simply because they were excluded from the original court case.

On Tuesday, the Attorney General flatly refused to consider any compensation for victims who suffered abuse before August 1, 1974, despite the fact that cut-off dates have not been applied in other settlements, including with victims of abuse at Jericho Hill School.

“If the government were serious about fairness for these survivors, many of whom have lived their entire lives with the effects of the abuse and mistreatment they suffered as children, they would agree to work towards finding a solution,” said New Democrat children and families critic Maurine Karagianis.

“The B.C. Liberal government’s outright refusal to do what’s right is shameful. They should settle this right now.”

Carole James and New Democrats are fighting for the rights of vulnerable members of society being left behind by the B.C. Liberal government.