Woodlands School

March 27, 2006

To read the article on Woodlands published in the March 2006 edition of the Georgia Straight, please click here.

March 18, 2005

In a judgment released March 17, Madam Justice Nancy Morrison of the British Columbia Supreme Court has certified a class action suit brought against the government of British Columbia on behalf of an estimated 1,500 former residents of Woodlands School, most  of whom are severely handicapped.

It is a significant milepost in a long journey.  Poyner Baxter filed the class action in 2002. Subsequently, the province’s Public Guardian and Trustee commenced a similar suit  seeking to represent all victims in the class. The court eventually awarded  “carriage” to Poyner Baxter, designating this firm to represent all members of the class. At the recent certification hearing before Madam Justice Morrison the Provincial Government argued that each Woodlands case was unique, and therefore not appropriate for a class action.  In this week’s decision the court ruled against the Provincial Government in favour of certification as a class action.

In her written judgment, Justice Morrison  ruled: “I do not agree that the individual issues overwhelm the common issues in this case. . . . .there is no question in my mind that a class proceeding is the preferable procedure for the fair and effective resolution of the common issues, given the history of the institution, the types of allegations raised, and the special vulnerabilities of the proposed Class Members.

The Supreme Court defined the class as follows:

“All persons resident in British Columbia, who were confined to the provincial institution more recently known as Woodlands School and who, while so confined, suffered physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse and have suffered injury, loss or damage as a result thereof.”

“Obviously, we are pleased with this result,” said lawyer Jim Poyner. “We hope that government will now finally recognize that serious damage has been done to a very large number of people, and work to expeditiously correct decades of evasion.”

In a comment earlier this month, Poyner said, “the Woodlands tragedy has been the subject of public speculation and debate for more than 30 years, and has been generally accepted as fact for at least a decade.” He pointed to a scathing report by former Ombudsman Dulcie McCallum in 2001, documenting systemic abuse, an apology from the government in 2002 and the establishment of a $2 million fund to counsel these victims. None of this $2 million has been spent, yet the government has invested heavily in legal processes to delay resolution.

“We agree that the degrees of abuse varied greatly among the survivors,” Poyner said. ”We communicated to government lawyers that individual assessment of appropriate compensation could easily be structured under the class action. There was no reply to this. Hopefully, something will now be done and we invite the Provincial Government to sit down with us to resolve this lawsuit.”

Complete text of the Supreme Court “Reasons for Judgment” can be found at the court web site. Please click here to view.

February 3, 2005

On January 31, February 1 and 2, 2005 Madam Justice Morrison heard an application for an order certifying the case as a class action pursuant to the provisions of the Class Proceedings Act.

Her Ladyship reserved judgment. Once judgment has been delivered, it will be posted on this webpage.

July 19, 2004

The next major step in this case is to apply to the court for an order certifying the case as a class action pursuant to the provisions of the Class Proceedings Act.

January 31, February 1 and 2, 2005 have been reserved with the court for this application.

June 15, 2004

The BC Court of Appeal delivered its judgment today granting carriage of the class action on behalf of Woodlands School abuse victims to Poyner Baxter. The court upheld the order of Madam Justice Morrison appointing Poyner Baxter as lead counsel to pursue litigation seeking damages for both sexual and physical abuse victim survivors of Woodlands School.

Poyner Baxter is now in a position to schedule a certification application and when this has been done, the information will be posted on this web page.

May 14, 2004

Poyner Baxter appeared in the BC Court of Appeal today and argued the carriage motion. The court reserved judgment. When judgment has been delivered, it will be posted on this webpage.

November 6, 2003

On a recent application brought on behalf of the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia, the BC Court of Appeal reversed a previous decision and ruled that an appeal of Madame Justice Morrison's carriage order will proceed. The appeal will be heard on May 14, 2004.

This means that the application to the court for certification pursuant to the Class Proceedings Act scheduled for October 29, 2004 will once again be delayed and will be dealt with a time yet to be determined.

September 5, 2003

Today, the BC Court of Appeal dismissed the application for leave to appeal the carriage order which was previously granted in favour of Poyner Baxter. This means that once this case has been certified under the Class Proceedings Act, then Poyner Baxter will continue as lead counsel on behalf of the Woodlands School abuse victims.

Poyner Baxter is now in a position to schedule a certification application and when this has been done, the information will be posted on this web page.

July 23, 2003

The judgment which was granted in favour of Poyner Baxter giving them carriage of this class action and appointing them lead counsel is now under appeal by lawyers representing the Public Guardian and Trustee office of British Columbia. No date for the hearing of the appeal has been set but without doubt the previous scheduling of the certification application under the provisions of the Class Proceedings Act will be delayed further.

July 16, 2003

Poyner Baxter would like to announce that we were successful on the carriage motion. On July 11, 2003, Madam Justice Morrison made a order appointing Poyner Baxter as lead counsel to pursue litigation seeking damages for both sexual and physical abuse victim survivors of Woodlands School. The court also made an order that the action brought on behalf of the Public Guardian and Trustee office pursuant to the Class Proceedings Act be stayed.

The next step in this litigation is to apply to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for certification as a class action pursuant to the Class Proceedings Act. This is a major step in the litigation and requires substantial preparation. This hearing had been scheduled to take place for 3 days commencing on November 12, 2003. Because of the carriage motion made necessary by the action brought on by the Public Guardian and Trustee office, there has been a substantial delay in the normal process and it will not be possible to meet this date.

Because of this, Madam Justice Morrison has agreed that the certification hearing will now take place in or about May 2004. A specific date has not yet been arranged. The Court was made aware, however, that if the  Public Guardian and Trustee office makes a decision to appeal her order on the carriage motion issue, further delays will likely result.

If you would like to read Madam Justice Morrison's decision, please click here.

January 24, 2003

In December the Public Guardian & Trustee of British Columbia commenced a similar lawsuit which they seek to have certified as a class action on behalf of the Victims/Survivors of Woodlands School.  The Public Guardian & Trustee of British Columbia takes the position that they are better qualified to represent the class than Poyner Baxter.

Before Poyner Baxter can proceed to certification under the Class Proceedings Act, it will now be necessary to argue what is known as a Carriage Motion before the trial management judge, Madam Justice Morrison, for a determination as to whether the putative class proceedings to be prosecuted on behalf of the Woodlands Victims/Survivors should be under the control of Poyner Baxter or the Public Guardian & Trustee of British Columbia.  This Motion will be heard in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on April 17^th, 2003.

The hearing for the application for certification pursuant to the Class Proceedings Act is scheduled to take place November 12 – 14^th, 2003.

January 23, 2003

Poyner Baxter commenced an action against Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia on August 2^nd, 2002. This action is brought on the Plaintiff’s behalf and on behalf of all persons who were previously confined to Woodlands and who suffered abuse including, but not limited to, physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse and/or who failed to receive a proper education while being confined to Woodlands.

A Case Management Conference is proceeding on January 24^th, 2003, before Madam Justice Morrison.

To review the Statement of Claim that was filed, please click on the link below:

Statement of Claim

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