remember_every_name

Phase 1 of the Demolition Process

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:38:00 GMT

Controversial building in Orillia being torn down

The former Huronia Regional Centre, an institution with a long history of controversy in Orillia, is being demolished.

Phase 1 of the Demolition Process: April 2026 Update

This update about demolition of buildings at the Huronia Regional Centre will also share some ideas about commemorating the site and honouring the people harmed there. Remember Every Name is a key stakeholder in this process, working with a high-level team – OPP managers in charge of Training and Recruitment, Business Management, and Indigenous Policing; the Ministry of Infrastructure’s Director of Realty Policy and the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Acting Director of Facilities and Capital Planning. All those involved came to the process aware of our issues, having already watched the documentary Unloved; Huronia’s Forgotten Children, and have accommodated and listened respectfully to survivors.

Phase 1 began in January 2026. We can now report that two service buildings, Coral Cove campground cabins, the Admissions/Isolation building, the old Infirmary, the Multi-sensory House (which the OPP vacated ahead of schedule) and the long row of one-storey buildings that was once the Medical Unit have been demolished. With each demolition, OPP staff have informed REN members and brought survivors living in Orillia to watch. Next the McGhie Pavilion/Apartments (the Pav) and another service building will come down. At that point, all of the land on the south side of the south access road will be bare,

All of the older, larger buildings still stand but the pre-demolition abatement process has begun in Cottage D and the Nurses Residence (2 of the 3 buildings along Memorial Avenue), in the former superintendent’s house (one-time outpatients department) and in other former staff houses that later served as group homes.

The OPP has confirmed that the Main Admin. Building (including Cottages A and K) will be demolished but because they occupy it, no date has been set. We have explained that it is a crime scene and have seen how dilapidated it has become and we understand that the OPP is looking for another location, so that it can be torn down sooner. Remember Every Name plans to have a ceremony to celebrate and film that event. Once we know when the main building will come down, we will issue an invitation.

A Remember Every Name leader, a historian and documentary film-maker have filmed inside buildings that were safe to enter. We identified artifacts which the OPP promised to remove for preservation. Unless they are deemed to be contaminated, the OPP has notified us and preserved artifacts Bird Construction has found during abatement and demolition. In “Larry’s Room” in the Pav, they are preserving whole wall panels and doors which a resident covered with his art. During demolition, they will protect the historical plaque that was required in the HRC class action settlement – to replace later for public viewing.

All of the artifacts claimed in 2014 after the class action settlement are in a storage room at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford. We shared photos of them with the OPP. Other artifacts remain in the OPP-occupied Trades Building at HRC. OPP said their archivists would help us recover HRC artifacts that may be in the Simcoe County or Orillia museums.

A future respectfully-curated memorial museum on the grounds of HRC is being discussed. In our meetings and communications, we keep telling OPP and government administrators that this is our goal. We want to create a stand-alone building, on the cemetery side of Memorial Avenue – large enough for group tours.

Some of us have toured the Woodlands Cultural Centre in Brantford, where the former Mohawk Institute residential school has been renovated to display and document living conditions, punishments, staff perpetrators, survivor stories and art, etc. We would encourage allies to tour there and envision how HRC stories can be told despite the demolition of its buildings.

Survivor stories and digital documentation will animate the artifacts displayed at the future HRC Memorial Museum. Survivors have always said “history must not repeat itself” and we must learn from our mistakes from the past.

I’m the One No One Looked For - Leo Gattie’s Story

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 18:06:03 GMT

I’m the One No One Looked For

Although Leo was just 11 years old when he was abandoned by CAS at HRC, he didn’t get to attend the institution school (poor as it was). As an Indigenous child, Leo was put to work right away at slave labour and sent to a ward intended for the working men, where he was horribly abused sexually and physically. His hands were smashed by staff with “shilleleighs” (leather boot soles) and they stomped on and disfigured his feet, but still he had to shovel coal and snow and do farming and landscaping work. The video talks about Leo being roused from bed in the middle of the night to shovel snow before day shift workers arrived.

He saw himself as “the black sheep of the family”, because “I’m the one no one looked for.”

Leo Gattie’s story - created by Kelsey Anger, Reconciliation Dept. Director, Anishinabek Nation and narrated by Melody, Leo’s friend and support worker.

Former HRC resident recounts abuse and resilience in new book

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:06:51 GMT

Harold Dougall is a longtime survivor of the former Huronia Regional Centre (HRC), and now he's an author of his story.

The 77-year-old survived the era when people with disabilities were institutionalized behind closed doors and abuses took place.

Behind Closed Doors the title of the new book about Dougall's experience living at the former HRC in Orillia and the Edgar Adult Occupational Centre in Oro-Medonte.

"I'm on Cloud 9," said Dougall. "People are scared to tell their story. I want to let the people know who the story is from ... I want my book out there so people know who I am."

Dougall co-wrote the book with Jay Dolmage, a professor at the University of Waterloo and editor of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies and Katharine Viscardis, an instructor at Northern Lakes College. Dougall's story will be part of a larger book titled A Disgrace to this Province by Viscardis. It is currently in the editing phase.

Born in Hamilton, Dougall was placed in the care of the Children's Aid Society when he was two years old. Upon advice to do so, his foster mother delivered him to the HRC in 1960, when he was 11.

He writes, "When we arrived at the institution, I didn't want to get out of the car. I walked up the stairs. I said, 'Mom, this is a place I don't need to be.' We stepped into the main lobby there and the door was open. After we stepped inside, I heard 'click' as though the door locked behind us. I asked my mom, 'What's going on here?' A member of staff came down to take me to the cottage and they told my mom, 'Go home and don't come back here.'

"I cried all the way to the cottage (A). The staff said, 'Stop crying or else I'll hit you.' The cottage door opened. It was locked behind me and then they smacked me. Life inside that building was hard. I cried. I cried myself to sleep sometimes."

Dougall wrote that the boys' ward was overcrowded and everyone had to live in a strict military style.

"They just wanted us to keep us in line by using straps, hands and belts. They'd kick us. They'd do anything to keep us in line. Some staff would take their shoes off and use the soles to hit us. They'd hit us anywhere on our bodies," he wrote.

In speaking with OrilliaMatters, Dougall said the children feared the pipe room. It was a hot mechanical room. Staff locked them inside for hours as a form of punishment. Dougall said he remembers being in there and seeing scratches on the door where children were trying to get out.

"If you were bad, they put you in there. One time, I couldn't walk out of there. I had to crawl," he said.

Although there was a school at the HRC, Dougall wasn't sent there, so he received no formal education. He later taught himself how to read and write.

When he turned 12, he was assigned to care for four other boys, and he took that seriously, even taking punishment for defending them from physical abuse.

Despite being told by staff to hit the boys when they argued, Dougall said he talked to them instead. He taught them how to wash themselves. He also used his own money to buy them new toothbrushes and was punished for it. He persisted and taught the boys about money, travelling on buses, and other aspects of the outside world.

In 1962, his foster mother had him transferred to the Edgar Adult Occupational Centre so he could receive occupational training. That environment was far superior to the HRC, said Dougall, and he lived there until 1975.

"They trained me to do grass cutting, to work on cars. That's where I got my licence ... The first thing they started me in was the kitchen there. I loved it ... I felt free," he recalled.

A class-action lawsuit was brought against the province by former HRC residents who suffered sexual, physical and verbal abuse in the institution. Dolmage's parents, Marilyn and Jim Dolmage, who were associated with the HRC, were among the leaders of the lawsuit against. Dougall participated as well but said he wasn't allowed to testify in court.

In 2013, a $35-million settlement was reached, providing compensation to residents who had developmental disabilities. Dougall received some funds from his time at both the HRC and the Edgar Adult Occupational Centre. The HRC operated between 1876 and 2009. The Edgar Adult Occupational Centre operated between 1964 and 1999.

Today, Dougall lives independently in Orillia. He is well known in the community. He has run for city council twice and plans to run again this fall. He has been on the city's accessibility advisory committee. He is a former Special Olympics swimmer. He volunteers to sell buttons for the annual Canada Day celebration and the Scottish Festival.

Dougall is a member of Remember Every Name, a group supporting survivors of the HRC. He is also an advocate for inclusivity and belonging and does public speaking.

Dougall only received about 50 copies of his book, which he is selling for $10.

"Empower Simcoe is supporting Harold to get more reprints of his book," said Jamie Hall, corporate communications manager with Empower Simcoe. "We would like to do a book signing with Harold at the library, but we need copies."

In posting the book to Empower Simcoe's social media pages, Hall said it has had 1,400 interactions and 200 comments of support and notices that people want to buy his book.

"When I look back to the kid I was in Huronia ... I'd day to that little boy, 'Be proud of yourself,'" wrote Dougall.

Written by Gisele Winton Sarvis, OrilliaMatters.com

Plans for former Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia begin to take shape

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 14:51:44 GMT

Survivors and members of ‘Remember Every Name’ met with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Wednesday to discuss the future of the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC).

Survivors applaud decision to demolish former Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:31:52 GMT

For many survivors, the former Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) is a place filled with haunting memories of institutional abuse, and now, decades later, the province’s decision to tear down parts of the site is bringing long-awaited closure to some who once lived there.

“It’s about time,” said Betty Ann Rose Bond, who was placed in children’s aid care at age six and spent five years at the facility. “It’s an eyesore to the City of Orillia and also to us survivors.”

Bond says her time at HRC was marked by trauma. The facility housed people with developmental disabilities until it closed in 2009. Bond says she remembers “too much” about her time at HRC, adding she recalls primarily “lots of abuse from staff.”

A group of former residents launched a class action lawsuit against the Ontario government, alleging systematic abuse at the institution. The province settled the lawsuit in 2013 for $35 million. The allegations were never tested in court.

The property is currently owned by the Ontario Provincial Police and has been used for the past two decades for training purposes. There are 49 buildings and 11 tunnels. The OPP says it is consulting with members of ‘Remember Every Name’ before deciding how the site should be used going forward.

"To be respectful and to honour the people that survived that experience it’s important that they have input on the future use of the lands and buildings there because that was considered their home," said Debbie Vernon of ‘Remember Every Name,’ a group dedicated to preserving the memory of those who lived at HRC.

The group is calling for a museum or permanent memorial to be built on the property to recognize the lives and stories of former residents.

Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac supports the demolition and believes the site holds potential for new uses. “It’s a dark era and I think we just need to move forward. Taking the buildings down I think will help. I know the former residents are excited about seeing the buildings come down so that’s a good step.”

Bond agrees. “It’s a bit of closure for us in a good way. You’re not going to erase our memories, they’re there, and it’s a permanent thing, but we need to move on too.”

Police and survivors are expected to meet later this month to discuss next steps for the site’s future.

Source: CTVNews.ca Barrie, Rob Cooper, Journalist

Ontario government proposes phased demolition of Huronia Regional Centre building

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 19:13:37 GMT

A controversial building dating back to 1876 situated on acres of government‐owned and managed land at the north of Lake Simcoe may no longer be.

Back in 2013, a $35 million lawsuit was filed by former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre against the province on allegations of mistreatment. The lawsuit claimed residents suffered abuse at the hands of their caregivers, which was home to people with developmental disabilities.

The Ontario government paid millions to former residents and made an official apology.

Since its closure in 2009, the property has been used for government services and initiatives, including a courtroom, a public health lab, and trainee homes and facilities for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

While the province says these programs and services will continue, a portion of the Orillia campus is no longer needed. The Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI) is proposing the phased demolition of up to 49 buildings and 11 tunnels on the Huronia Regional Centre site.

The ministry told CTV News on Monday that the assets and buildings have deteriorated and are no longer viable for long-term use.

Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac saying, “Well this a dark area and I think we just need to move forward, you know, taking the buildings down I think will help. I know the former residents are excited about seeing the building come down. So, that’s a good step.”

“Infrastructure Ontario (IO), on behalf of MOI, will lead planning for the demolition of buildings and site rehabilitation to ensure the site is ready for future use and redevelopment,” said the Ministry of Infrastructure to CTV News.

IO is now actively pursuing a contract to carry out the planned demolition. Further decisions on site use will be made by the OPP in consultation with the Solicitor General’s office and Infrastructure Ontario.

The OPP is in the preliminary planning stage of the new academy, including a comprehensive needs assessment. “The former HRC site offers important proximity to OPP General Headquarters, and based on its current use is considered a desirable site,” said Gosia Puzio, Corporate Communications Bureau, Ontario Provincial Police.

“Those buildings coming down mean a couple of things, we’re obviously cleaning up the sight but we’re excited for the OPP. They are going to build an academy there which is going to be great for Orillia and we’re looking forward to seeing that too,” McIsaac continued.

Officials say the timing of everything will be determined through the awarded contract.

“It frees up the other land around it and Orillia has had a long standing interest in the land along the lakefront,” McIsaac said.

This demolition is part of province’s plan to continue to generate revenues and reduce liability costs in Ontario.

Written by: Julianna Balsamo, CTVNews.ca Barrie

A long-hoped for announcement

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:22:58 GMT

Survivors and allies in Remember Every Name are overjoyed about this long-hoped for announcement.

The announcement includes an invitation for us to work with government and to meet with the OPP on the future of the HRC property. This is in response to our insistence that recommendations made by survivors to a 2017 Infrastructure Ontario consultation be followed, especially the construction of a collaboratively planned and respectfully curated museum on site.

Download the letters below:

Province approves demolition of HRC buildings, OKs new OPP Academy

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:01:02 GMT

'Survivors and allies in Remember Every Name are overjoyed about this long-hoped-for announcement,' says advocate who is pushing for a museum on the property.

Sixteen years after the controversial Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) was shut down, the province has finally decided on the fate of the 175-acre property.

OrilliaMatters has learned Kinga Surma, the province’s minister of infrastructure, has given initial approval to demolish, in phases, up to 49 buildings and 11 tunnels on the sprawling former HRC property that lies between Memorial Avenue and Lake Simcoe.

“The existing assets and buildings on the HRC site, constructed in the 1800s, have significantly deteriorated and are no longer viable for long-term use,” Surma says in a letter to the group, Remember Every Name.

Parts of the property are currently used by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and other government tenants, Surma notes.

“(The Ministry of Infrastructure), in partnership with the Ministry of the Solicitor General and the OPP, (is) working to advance demolition activities to support future redevelopment of the former HRC campus for continued government use,” notes the letter.

In a separate letter to the group, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said this year’s provincial budget included a “commitment to modernize police training facilities to meet the public safety needs of our growing communities by training more police officers.”

He notes the plan was “identified as a public safety priority and addressed the aging infrastructure of the OPP Academy” on the site.

Carrique says “planning work is underway for construction of a new OPP Academy in Orillia, which is expected to include developments on the former HRC campus.”

He says the “redevelopment of the site presents a significant opportunity for the OPP to equip new recruits, existing police personnel and Indigenous police partners with the skills needed to respond to the increasing complexity of policing and address urgent specialized training demands.”

He said the OPP is committed to ensuring “the history of the former HRC is preserved, recognized and respected.”

Carrique said he is looking forward to “open and ongoing dialogue” with all stakeholders of these “historical lands.”

In the letter, he invites Marilyn and Jim Dolmage and Debbie Vernon — the key people behind Remember Every Name — to set up a meeting with Supt. Gary Maracle, commander of the OPP’s Indigenous Policing Bureau.

“Survivors and allies in Remember Every Name are overjoyed about this long-hoped-for announcement,” Dolmage said in an email to OrilliaMatters.

Vernon echoed those sentiments.

“Every survivor that we’ve spoken to so far, they are ecstatic about the news," Vernon said, adding some are in “disbelief” after asking for this for “so many years.”

But it’s more than just a demolition, they noted.

“It includes an invitation for us to work with the government and to meet with the OPP,” Dolmage said, noting this is in response to “our insistence that recommendations made by survivors to a 2017 Infrastructure Ontario consultation be followed, especially the construction of a collaboratively planned and respectfully curated museum on site.”

She said the group is looking forward to meeting with the OPP.

Vernon said that meeting is scheduled for mid-July. She hopes discussions will begin at that time about a museum for the property.

“That was part of our recommendations back in 2017 with the government consultation. It should be a peaceful place for reflection and education. We’re not asking for a memorial that is just a slab of concrete or a plaque,” Vernon told OrilliaMatters on Wednesday.

“We’re asking for a memorial museum where, collaboratively, we work with all the groups we have been in contact with ... We also want academia involved.

“We’re hoping we can work together to build a memorial museum that would be part of the site plan agreement and we’re hoping we will get some help from the Ontario government to build it. We have to learn from our mistakes from the past.”

Dolmage agreed.

“It’s interesting that arrangements will be made with the OPP’s Indigenous Policing Bureau. We have always hoped for some parallel Truth and Reconciliation process,” said Dolmage.

Dolmage has fought to right the wrongs that occurred at the HRC for decades. She was a litigation guardian for a former HRC resident in a class-action lawsuit against the province.

In the end, the case was settled for $35 million. And for years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the maximum former residents could receive was $42,000.

Perhaps more important than the money was a public recognition of the facility’s ugly past.

Those who called the HRC home between 1945 and 2009 received a lengthy apology from then-premier Kathleen Wynne two weeks before Christmas in 2013 for the neglect and abuse they suffered living in the Orillia facility.

With former residents in the gallery of the provincial legislature, she acknowledged some had been forcibly restrained, left in seclusion, exploited for their labour and crowded into unsanitary dormitories.

The following year, a commemorative plaque was installed on site to honour the memory of the centre’s residents. A cemetery registry was also created.

In 2019, the Remember Every Name sculpture was unveiled on the cemetery grounds directly across from the HRC site.

In recent years, several ideas were floated for the lakeside property, including a grassroots movement to create an arts and culture campus.

Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop also floated the idea of building long-term care facilities on the property — an idea that rankled survivors.

Following that becoming public, survivors wrote an open letter to Dunlop that was published in OrilliaMatters.

Harold Dougall, one of the former residents of the HRC, echoed the sentiments of many of his fellow survivors.

“I want the place torn down,” said Dougall, who has run for a seat on Orillia’s city council.

“Every time I go by there, it gives me cold chills. The government is going behind our backs and we are not involved with discussions about the future use. It makes me mad to hear they want to use it as a nursing home.”

The HRC opened in 1876 and operated as a facility for developmentally delayed adults until 2009. At its peak, more than 3,000 people lived on the site.

- Written by Dave Dawson, June 26th, 2025, orilliamatters.com

Remembering Marie Slark

kristen@clientfirstcanada.com (Kristen Szykoluk) — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 14:11:18 GMT

Through her heroic efforts, Marie was one of the lead plaintiffs with the Huronia Regional Centre Class Action successfully suing the Ontario government for the neglect and abuse they suffered when they lived at HRC. Marie touched many people who lived at the institution and her legacy will live on.

Marie Stark's Celebration of Life at The Church of Holy Trinity, Toronto held on Sunday, June 1st, 2025.

Marie's sister Karen Slark's touching words from the celebration

Hello, my name is Karen Slark and I am Marie Slark’s younger sister. I would like to thank everyone for coming out today to celebrate the life of Marie.

I took her the letters of her name to describe how I think about Marie:

M - Marie was like a mother to me

A - Amazing sister

R - Reliable always remembered special occasions

I - Important work Marie helped with the class action suit for HRC

E - Encouraging, she loved me, and she encouraged me to be positive

Marie and I lived for some of our life together in Orillia. I remember when she got her apartment in Newmarket, and I moved into my home in Stouffville, Marie would

have me home for weekend visits.

Marie was busy working out the Tudor arms and at a butter tart factory, but she still had time to see me on the weekends. She would take me to visit my mom and always made coffee or tea for me in the mornings.

She would also take me to Tudor arms for a nice meal. We enjoyed our time together. Family was important to Marie. Marie liked to keep our family together ensuring that Wesley my father Marie and I could get together for a Christmas celebration at my home for our Christmas tea.

Marie used to call me hot dog legs, and I called her hot dog legs back. That was our fun teasing with each other. She had a real sense of humor.

She always stayed in touch. She would give me a phone call and come and meet me at my home for a visits.

I have a fond memory of going with Marie to camp one year.

Here's a letter that I wrote for my sister : Marie, I'm so glad that you're my sister and that you looked out for me all of these years and I'm going to miss you. I'm sad to see you go but I know that you're in heaven. PS say hi to Tom, Patricia, Antoinette, mum and dad.

I love you.

Karen’s Legacy

Tue, 27 May 2025 10:13:20 GMT

I would like to introduce you to my late sister Karen Jobbins who inspired us all to do better at supporting people who have disabilities. Her story may resonate with a few of you.

Most of you have never met my sister Karen but she lived a courageous life as a teacher and an influencer to those who loved and respected her.

Karen was the first born on January 31, 1955. Her arrival into this world was difficult and cruel. With the use of forceps during delivery she sustained a head injury causing cerebral palsy and a developmental delay and later the onset of epilepsy.

The odds were against her because she could have died.

The doctor predicted she would only live a few short years- maybe one or two, that someday my mother would find her dead in her crib. Instead, she survived for 66 years. Karen proved that doctor wrong.

Then I came along.

When we were little, my sister Karen and I were inseparable. So close in age, milestones were compared and measured. We were even dressed alike and had the same hair cuts. We loved camping with our parents out on Parry Island, Georgian Bay, getting there in the boat Dad built in the basement as a winter project. For as long as I can remember, Karen loved the water. If it wasn’t swimming and running around at the beach together, it would be kicking water in our wadding pool on hot summer days playing in the front yard and drinking Koolaid with the neighbouring kids who would come and join us.

The odds were against Karen at a time when thousands of other children like her were shuttered away into institutions across this province.

My parents resisted pressure from professionals who told them to put Karen "away" at the Ontario Hospital School that loomed nearby in Orillia, that the family would be better off forgetting her altogether. That's the kind of "help" that was available for families in those days in the late 50’s and early 60’s when Karen was a toddler.

Karens influence on our parents gave them the resolve to resist that pressure from the professionals, that she was their responsibility and would remain with the family despite having little or no support in the community for her.

When we lived in Parry Sound we went our separate ways to go to school. I was in Grade one- Karen went to a day care at the neighbours' house-even though she was older than me.

The odds were against her because kids like Karen weren’t expected to learn or go to school.

In the 1960’s we moved from Parry Sound to Muskoka, in the country, on the lake near Port Carling near where our Grandparents lived, along with Aunts and Uncles and all our cousins. Our parents built the family home on Brackenrig Bay.

Many hot summer days were spent down at the lake playing at the beach catching lily pads or floating around in grandpa’s punt. Weekends were special because sometimes it meant we were going for a boat ride and picnic with our grandparents out to the island for a swim.

In the winter months our family were avid snowmobilers exploring the lakes and meeting up with other families for a cookout lunch. Dad would hook up the dog sled to the snowmobile for us - Karen in her seat, our younger sister at her feet and I standing on the back - while our younger brother was on the back of the snowmobile with dad. Mom would follow behind to make sure none of us fell off.

I went to public school in Port Carling, my sister travelled to Bracebridge to a day care in the United church basement. When I was nine I started getting in trouble at school retaliating with kids who were taunting my sister while we rode the school bus part way together. My dad had to explain my sister was “mentally retarded”. The words sounded ugly and foreign to me. I knew she learned things slower than others but I did not see my sister in terms of disability, I loved her as my big sister.

The odds were against her because people like Karen were labelled and discriminated against.

Our parents realized that Karen and other kids like her should be going to a real school to get an education, with books, blackboards, teachers and expectations. They worked hard and came together to organize with other parents who had children like Karen and formed what is now Community Living South Muskoka. They got the whole community involved with fundraising efforts to build Victoria Street School in Bracebridge which opened in 1968. What a huge influence Karen had!

Karen attended Victoria Street School until she was 21. I remember typing the letter my father wrote to the Minister of Education asking that students should be able to attend school up to the age of 21 years. Because of that, legislation was passed allowing for this.

After Karen aged out of the school system, she went to ARC Industries-a sheltered workshop, which the parents' group had built. It turned out that she was unhappy there, so she stayed home from then on, with our parents. I left home to go to college to pursue a career working for people with developmental disabilities because my sister taught and inspired me. For 25 years in two provinces, my focus was to help move people from government run institutions back to the community with supports.

Father became seriously ill and before he died, he asked us to promise never to institutionalize Karen. He had worked hard for so many years to build supports in the community pioneering the local association. Karen inspired him to make sure people stayed out of the two large government run institutions that loomed nearby, one being Muskoka Centre in Gravenhurst and the Ontario Hospital School later known as Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia.

But the odds were against Karen because there was not enough support in the community for her to live a happy life on her own terms.

Instead, she inspired my mother and I to work hard to advocate on her behalf. With the help and advice from our friend Marilyn Dolmage, we were inspired by her son Matthew’s example. They blazed a path for Karen by sharing that individualized funding could make a good life in the community possible. Through them, we learned about Special Services at Home, later known as Passport funding for adults.

Eventually Karen was granted individualized direct funding to hire her “girls” who helped her with walks, going out of the family home and swimming at the pool. She was the only person to have this funding “annualized” - guaranteed from year to year - then, in the northeastern region of the province.

Karen inspired our local MPP Norm Miller to advocate in the legislature for this funding. Karen was an inspiration to others who learned from her example. It became a movement with families across the province forming Family Alliance Ontario, wanting the same type of arrangement in the form of secure direct funding to support their children with disabilities. Karen helped influence a lot of families!

Karen loved to go to town to swim at the pool, shop, attend appointments, and run errands - simple things everyone else takes for granted. My mother got a break – which some people would have called it "respite", but Karen’s “girl’s night outs” provided so much more. Sometimes she went out of town overnight with "her girls" to catch a show at Deerhurst or to a shopping mall in the city. She enjoyed her visits to Wind Reach farm where she could pick apples from the orchard or feed the animals, going for a hay wagon ride while staying overnight. Karen was enjoying happy and enriching opportunities, while still living at the family home with our mother.

All was going well for my sister until our mother had declining health which required surgery preventing her from continuing to care for Karen at home.

We tried very hard to be prepared, and proactive, hoping for a partnership with community and government departments responsible. We met with government officials and submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Community & Social Services-to support a plan for Karen to move from the family home into a home of her own in the town of Bracebridge. Part of the plan was that she could continue to benefit from the love, support and unpaid care-giving provided by her family along with live-in support. We said we wanted a safe and secure future for Karen. She had always lived in the community surrounded by family and friends and we wanted this to continue and expand.

The odds were against her because the government told us she should move into a group home instead of having a home of her own.

Not only did my sister not want to move to a group home but there was a wait-list years long. Time ran out. Karen moved in with me and my family as an emergency plan to avoid moving to a long-term care facility to live with the frail and elderly. My mother could not see any other place for her to go and worried my husband and I would not be able to manage while raising our own family and working full time.

I hoped I could keep my promise to my father never to institutionalize my sister but the odds were against her.

A few months later my mother was informed that a “long-term care” bed was available for Karen because her name was on a list as a priority placement. On July 15th, 2005 my sister was institutionalized at the age of 50.

The odds were against Karen for community living.

Now she lived a sheltered and limited life within the confines of the facility. Rarely did she go out anymore but she enjoyed the regular visits from her mother and whenever the rest of her family and friends popped in to see her.

And then COVID hit. We were all under lockdown no longer able to visit or check in with Karen. She was so courageous to survive all those lonely 18 months with most of her time spent in her room only to go out to the dining room for her meals.

The odds were against her when she was admitted to the hospital in March 2021 with a serious infection which almost took her life.

Because she was considered palliative, I was able to become her essential caregiver allowing me to visit everyday to help her recover. Karen rallied and it was looking hopeful she would regain her health to have better days ahead. But this would not be. Karen sadly and quietly passed away alone in the early morning hours of October 31, 2023 at the age of 66.

With Karen’s passing, donations were made in her name towards the Twin Points Trail Barrier Free Access & Viewing Platform in Killbear Provincial Park on Georgian Bay. Upon completion this project, it will provide access to one of the trails for individuals with mobility challenges so that visitors and campers can enjoy the beauty and ruggedness of the Georgian Bay area. Karen’s name will be inscribed on the plaque at the entrance of Twin Points Trail. This celebrates those years we enjoyed the outdoors together, as two loving sisters.

Although the odds were so great against her, she influenced so many people with disabilities and their families. Over her lifetime, she inspired this community to create support programs and because those programs did not always meet her needs, Karen’s story continues to challenge us to change – to see people not as Community Living clients but to ensure they are valued citizens, participating fully at the heart of true community.

Rest peacefully Karen.

- Written by Debbie Vernon

How Could They Just Lose Him?

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 12:29:58 GMT

THE PHONE RANG late on November 15, 1977. Betty and Allan Bellchambers were getting ready for bed when a man’s voice broke the news: Robin Windross, Betty’s twenty-one-year-old son, was missing. Betty collapsed, and Allan angrily said a few words “I should not have said,” he later admitted in a legal declaration. For sixteen years, the Huronia Regional Centre had provided Windross’s care. How could they just lose him?

HRC was a sprawling institution in Orillia, a ninety-minute drive north of Toronto, for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1876, it was one of Ontario’s oldest and largest facilities. There were multiple buildings overlooking Lake Simcoe and, on the other side of the road, a farm and a cemetery. Windross had grown up in the centre’s children’s wards and had been transferred to cottage C, an adult ward, close to the time of his disappearance.

According to Allan, Windross was terrified of cottage C. Betty and Allan got the impression that bad things happened there. They say their son turned into a different boy after the transfer—they knew he wasn’t happy but didn’t know what they could do without evidence. Now Windross was gone—vanished into a damp Ontario fall.

Shortly after midnight, according to the missing person’s report, an officer with Orillia Police Service took down the statement of the person who had last seen Windross, an HRC counsellor named T. A. Anderson. According to Anderson, Windross and other residents had boarded a bus to see a hockey game at a community centre. Windross had gone to the game and been returned to HRC, according to Anderson, at which point he’d gone missing.

The police report notes that Anderson was conducting a search of the city and HRC grounds, presumably in the middle of the night. Who told him to do so, if anyone, is not clear, and the handwritten eighty-six-word police report contains errors. (Betty and Allan are referred to as “foster parents.”) Windross was nowhere to be found that night, and subsequent searches turned up nothing.

Nearly forty years later, in 2013, the Ontario government settled a class action lawsuit out of court, and the claims of more than 1,700 former HRC residents who had alleged systemic abuse and neglect were eventually approved. The lawsuit was part of a wave of similar class action suits from former residents of other institutions across the province. Some former residents, or their families, didn’t meet the legal criteria to be claimants. Betty and Allan’s claim was among those denied. Shortly after the HRC class action was settled, Ontario Provincial Police began looking into numerous deaths connected to the facility—including at least one where there was no proof of death but foul play could not be ruled out. Cases like that of resident 16,628.

ROBIN KENNETH WINDROSS was born in Penetanguishene, not far from Orillia, in 1955. Very little is known about his biological father, and Allan was more of a father figure to him. Betty was seventeen when she had Windross. Both pregnancy and delivery were normal. Soon there were other siblings, whom Windross protected. “He was always good to his sisters,” Betty, now in her mid-eighties, says. “When they were babies, he’d sit right in front of their crib and play there.”

By age five, Windross had been referred to HRC. Though the exact circumstances of his admission are unclear, it appears that doctors in Penetanguishene and at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children noticed he was developing slowly and recommended he be placed in institutional care—a catch-all solution at the time. But, Allan says, Windross looked worse the longer he stayed at the facility. “If I had known [about the conditions at HRC],” Betty wrote in a legal declaration in 2014, “I never would have put him in there.”

Windross was admitted in June 1961, at age five and a half. Though his parents and eventual teachers described him as a good kid, some clinical files alleged he was “bad tempered, hyperactive and [had] quite a behaviour problem.” Betty and Allan deny that Windross ever exhibited any violent behaviour and strongly disagree with HRC’s assessment of their son as aggressive. He was diagnosed as “severely retarded.” Betty was also labelled feeble minded and deemed unable to provide a suitable home. The appraisal of Betty seems more literary than scientific. “She appears delicate, quite thin, and of a nervous temperament,” one comment reads.

Windross was placed in a children’s ward. A note in his HRC file described him as a “likeable youngster,” and a letter from a pediatrician mentioned he was “bright enough” to attend a school for children with developmental disabilities. Though he occasionally exhibited destructive behaviour, his HRC file also notes that he showed little to no aggression during sports and was quiet, cooperative, and artistically inclined.

Windross eventually became friendly with other residents. “He was a good guy. He was just like me or any other kid in there,” Arthur John Timleck, a former HRC resident, told me. While Timleck would try to escape from the facility any chance he could get, Windross “would run anywhere, without any particular goal in mind given the slightest chance,” a pediatrician told Betty. At the time, she lived and worked in Midland. After Windross ran away during a home visit at age six, the same pediatrician said it would be “better for all” if he remained at HRC for at least another six months.

Betty and Allan moved to Orillia around 1970 and lived a short drive from HRC. Records show they visited Windross often and were seen as “loving and concerned.” They repeatedly expressed a desire to bring him home, but HRC raised questions about his future. What would happen to him if they became ill? Who would take care of him? In 1974, the Bellchambers wanted to discuss options that would allow their son to “work toward some type of independent living,” such as learning a trade. HRC suggested they wait “until at least the end of the school term” before discussing “alternatives for future placement.” Then three more years passed.

In the fall of 1977, Windross completed his education, which was focused on simple tasks such as telling time and preparing snacks, and was assigned to vocational training. He was put on laundry duty and tasked with delivering clean clothes to other residents. Around this time, Windross was transferred to the adult ward; Betty and Allan noticed that he seemed different after that. He would not allow them to touch him or even go near him. After home visits, Windross wouldn’t want to return to HRC. When they arrived at the facility, Robin would begin shaking and crying. “I almost had to force him out of the car,” Allan wrote in his legal declaration. “He was scared to go back,” Allan says.

According to his parents, he was being abused by some of the staff. “He said they would touch him and then he pointed to his private parts,” Betty wrote. The couple was outraged but felt powerless to do anything. “We figured that, without hard proof of what was happening to Robin there was nothing we could do,” Allan wrote.

Timleck also told me that sexual abuse was rampant at HRC and said that he was also sexually abused by some staff and residents. “There’s supposed to be night watch. He doesn’t do nothing. He just sits in the office and reads his comics.”

By the time Windross went missing that November, HRC was already infamous. A visitor’s account by Pierre Berton for the Toronto Star in 1960—seventeen years earlier—had loosely compared the facility to a concentration camp. Berton described seventy-year-old overcrowded, understaffed, and unsanitary buildings that had fallen into disrepair. The piece led to a heated discussion in the legislative assembly of Ontario, and multiple reports over the following years raised even more awareness of the conditions at HRC.

In the 1970s, still prior to Windross’s disappearance, the Globe and Mail reported on the stabbing of two HRC residents by a third resident. This incident, according to the article, led to outrage among the parents of patients who were still at the institution. In 1976, a deputy minister named Joseph Willard conducted more than 175 interviews, some confidential, with staff members, for a report to the Ontario government about the management and operation of HRC. The report recommended introducing an ombudsperson to ensure an independent review of all abuse allegations at the facility. The OPP eventually began an investigation into multiple allegations related to HRC, but that was a year too late for Windross.

Despite HRC’s well-documented problems, the officer filing Windross’s missing person’s report in the early hours of November 16, 1977, seemed oblivious to the possibility of foul play. T. A. Anderson’s full name was not recorded. HRC’s files on the case are limited. They include only a handful of reports, letters, and memos authored by police.

In June 1978, dozens of staff members conducted another search, finding nothing relevant to the disappearance. Later that year, a funeral for Windross was held at Betty and Allan’s request. In 1985, Windross was retroactively discharged from HRC. In a letter to Allan, HRC offered no apology or explanation for his disappearance, but they offered to plan a memorial service and said they could make a chaplain available.

By the end of the twentieth century, some institutions for those with intellectual disabilities were beginning to close, and accountability for past injustices had begun. In 1992, Harold Rogers, a seventy-two-year-old former HRC attendant, was charged in connection with the death of a resident named Albert Morrison almost forty years earlier. According to Rogers, Morrison had run away from HRC and was punished by being made to wear pyjamas. Rogers stated that Morrison showed up to breakfast in plain clothes instead; other residents said they witnessed Rogers assault Morrison after that. Morrison died of a ruptured liver a short while later. At the time of the death, a coroner’s jury initially absolved all HRC staff, including Rogers, of any culpability. He died before the 1992 case went to court.

IN JANUARY 2007, a former HRC social worker named Marilyn Dolmage and her husband, Jim, were having lunch with two HRC survivors, Marie Slark and Pat Seth, who had both been long-term residents in the 1960s and ’70s. Like many others, Slark and Seth had endured physical and emotional abuse. Both were sexually abused: Seth at HRC and Slark at another residence where she had been placed by the centre. The two women had been part of Marilyn’s caseload, and they developed a friendship with her after they were discharged. Marilyn herself left HRC in 1973.

When the mealtime conversation turned toward HRC, Jim was struck by the vividness of Slark’s and Seth’s recollections. “They were in a unit with twenty-seven or twenty-eight kids,” he says. “They remembered the names of, like, twenty-four—first and last names.” At the time, Canadian institutions were beginning to face calls for reconciliation, including a class action lawsuit, over the history of systemic abuse at residential schools. Seeing parallels between the treatment of two vulnerable groups, the Dolmages began talking with lawyers, who suggested they conduct a videotaped interview of Slark and Seth.

After seeing the footage, the lawyers agreed there were grounds for a class action suit but passed them on to another firm. By the spring of 2009, retainers had been signed with Koskie Minsky, a firm that was also involved with the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. At first, everything seemed to be going well. Koskie Minsky suggested they seek $2 billion in damages—same as the residential schools settlement. Though the Dolmages had no legal training and had never been involved in anything of that magnitude, Jim, a retired high school teacher, became Seth’s litigation guardian, and Marilyn became Slark’s.

Though the Ontario government had compiled a report in 1971 about the overcrowding and understaffing at HRC and similar institutions in the province, the Crown still fought the class action, denying that abuse or neglect had occurred. With trial looming in 2013, Slark, Seth, and the Dolmages were elated. “We thought . . . the stories would finally be told publicly and would be reported by the media,” Marilyn says. “And that people would get some money—that they’d be able to live better.” Though Koskie Minsky had been promoting a trial publicly, the Dolmages say, the firm forwarded them a settlement offer for $35 million.

In the end, more than $8 million of the settlement money went toward legal fees, according to the Dolmages; another $2 million or so went to a class proceedings fund. Though the then attorney general of Ontario stated in 2013 that notices were sent to around 4,500 individuals who may have been eligible as claimants, only 1,758 former residents eventually filed claims; Jim and Marilyn believe that some eligible individuals may not have received the notices due to a lack of accurate addresses on file. Specific amounts for each claimant from the remaining $23.45 million were determined as per a system that assigned points based on class members’ experiences of physical and sexual assault. The Dolmages say that survivors who could not verbalize who had harmed them, or who did not submit a claim for specific harm, were granted $2,000 for having lived at HRC during the defined period. “Here we have been bringing vulnerable people to access justice, and they get screwed again,” Marilyn says.

By the time the class action was settled, HRC had already closed. Other decisions in similar class actions followed, including at Rideau and Southwestern regional centres in eastern and southern Ontario. According to the Dolmages, in the later suits, over a million unclaimed dollars were reverted to the provincial government.

In 2014, the OPP began a review of a dozen prior criminal investigations with links to HRC. The team consisted of then detective inspector Martin Graham of the OPP’s criminal investigation branch, four detectives, and administrative support.

The team also looked into the departure of around 650 residents who had left HRC under unclear circumstances between 1944 and 2009. Some had been “discharged to self,” while others had “eloped.” Investigators requested records from the ministry of community and social services, now part of the ministry of children, community, and social services, which had taken over HRC operations in the 1970s. In an email I obtained, one investigator described a “lack of cooperation” and “an amazing set of roadblocks” in getting the records, which, according to the email, took the MCCSS more than six months to produce.

Once the OPP received the records, the team discovered they were vague and, at times, faulty. According to Graham, the OPP started searching for a 10 percent sample of the 650 departures. Eventually, they found all the former residents included in that sample. Windross was not part of this sample, but his case was one of the dozen criminal investigations that were reviewed by police.

The central question was to determine what had happened to him: Did he leave HRC of his own volition, or was he a victim of foul play? Graham says foul play has never been established. “There is no evidence, to my knowledge, to indicate that his disappearance is a crime.” But the inconsistencies around Windross’s disappearance have haunted his parents. Anderson told Orillia Police Service that Windross had returned to HRC after the hockey game. But Allan said HRC had told him that Windross was last seen at suppertime, after which they thought he had gone to the game.

The OPP confirmed a witness had seen Windross getting into someone’s car on Front Street in Orillia earlier that afternoon. In a subsequent email, Graham said that “no definitive conclusion as to where or when Windross was last seen can be determined.” Marilyn Dolmage, who left HRC four years before Windross’s disappearance, can’t remember anyone with T. A. Anderson’s name.

For years after Windross’s disappearance, Betty and Allan would be downtown somewhere and Betty would start looking at men who resembled her son. “I thought we were going to lose her,” Allan wrote in a statutory declaration. As for Allan, he couldn’t drive by the institution without his blood pressure rising. “[Robin] was at HRC so they could take care of him, not lose him,” he wrote. “I am totally disgusted with the staff for their negligence.” The Bellchambers say no one has ever called to apologize or take ownership over the loss of their son. A 2019 article in Orillia Today discussed his disappearance, but apart from that, there has been no media coverage since 1977.

No charges were laid in any of the cases the OPP examined. Though Graham said it would not be appropriate for the OPP to comment on HRC’s legacy, he described the Dolmages as “fierce and fantastic” and said Windross’s disappearance was “incredibly disturbing.” A DNA sample was collected from Betty in 2015 and submitted for comparison to unidentified human remains in Ontario and elsewhere, but none has ever matched.

Though HRC and many institutions for those living with developmental disabilities have closed—some as recently as 2009—remnants of the system can still be found in today’s treatment of people with disabilities. Megan Linton, a PhD researcher at Carleton University who works with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, pointed to the continued use of chemical restraints and seclusion—methods of control and punishment that were HRC mainstays, according to survivors.

Linton was not familiar with Windross’s case but said she routinely works with vulnerable groups. “I am constantly afflicted and haunted and fear cases like Robin’s because I know . . . so many similar stories where families are just left wanting and waiting for a response, a change, an answer. And nothing ever comes.”

ON MOTHER’S DAY in 2023, I joined a group of more than two dozen HRC survivors and supporters at a cemetery across the road from Lake Simcoe. The OPP headquarters, a 640,000-square-foot complex that opened in 1995, loomed over us in the distance. Some former HRC buildings now contained courthouses; still others appeared abandoned.

At the cemetery, I planted flowers and listened to stories of survival and escape, including by Windross’s friend Arthur John Timleck, who has since passed away. Notably, Betty and Allan were not in attendance. Recently, they told me they were having health problems. When we spoke at our first meeting, I had asked Betty how she was doing. Her answer was reflexive: “Missing my son,” she had said. At the time, I was looking for people to go on camera for a CBC documentary. Betty and Allan seemed open to it, but the film ended up going in another direction. Still, I left their apartment with Windross’s nearly 500-page HRC file.

As Allan walked me out of the building, the conversation returned to the class action. He made a zero with his fist, signalling the amount of settlement money he and Betty had received. It seemed a gesture that encompassed more than just a monetary amount. In the strange reverse alchemy of HRC, Windross’s file photos showed a progressive deterioration. The very first photo of him showed a young boy the institution had not yet touched. “I believe Robin is alive,” Betty wrote in her declaration. “I hope he is happy somewhere.”

BY ZANDER SHERMAN, thewalrus.ca

HRC survivor recounts 'difficult' story to a younger generation

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 13:28:12 GMT

Former HRC resident shares story of neglect and abuse; 'You had no control over your life. Families had no idea what was going on inside'.

Although he can't read and write, Joe Lambert can share a deeply personal story.

The Stratford resident has educated college and university students about his difficult life, which has included his continuing recovery from trauma after living in provincial institutions, including the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) in Orillia.

Sharing experiences about incidents of neglect and abuse have impacted students studying to work in social services fields, some brought to tears to hear first-hand accounts, said Mirjam Schut, who has travelled with Lambert and assists with his presentations at Fanshawe College and Brock University.

"Joe always wanted to teach about institutions, about what he went through," said Schut, lead facilitator af Facile Perth.

Lambert, who lives independently now with his wife of 19 years, Diana, and their dogs Lady, Misty and Scotia (and several cats) said it is difficult telling his story because it brings back memories and feelings that are "difficult" to deal with.

But he says it's important that the younger generation of students are aware of what people with developmental challenges may have lived through.

And it is important for their future careers to "know how to respect people and their choices."

The HRC was shut down in 2009, and the provincial government later officially apologized for many years of abuse. A class action lawsuit resulted in payments to survivors.

Lambert spent time in a group home after leaving the institution, but he doesn't agree with that way of living, preferring to have his own choice on where to live and who to live with, or what and when to eat, for example, he said.

During the presentations with students, Schut runs through a slide show. One of the photos shows a beautiful image of the HRC from the outside, which is deceiving, he said. Lambert talks about choices and control.

"You had no control over your life," he said of past experience at institutions.

"Families had no idea what was going on inside," Schut added.

At the end of the presentations, students always ask questions. Professors appreciate the first-person education provided, Schut said.

Students are not the only people taking notice of Lambert's efforts. He is winning some prestigious awards for his efforts.

Megan Watson, a professor in the developmental service worker program at Fanshawe College, said students leave his presentation with a completely different understanding of institutions and survivors.

Watson mentioned his impact in her nomination letter for the Jason Rae award, which he subsequently won.

The award is given to a person with an intellectual disability who has demonstrated leadership and given back to community and presented by Community Living Ontario.

Lambert travelled to Ottawa by himself to accept the award as part of Community Living Ontario's Inspiring Possibilities conference.

Watson said Lambert is a passionate advocate for himself and others. She said he is kind and considerate and his dedication to educating others so that history does not repeat itself is evident in each presentation. Students leave his presentation with a completely different understanding of institutions and survivors, she said.

Jessica Jantzi, an adult protective service worker with Family Services Perth Huron, nominated Lambert for the David West/Blanche MacDonald award, presented by the Adult Protective Service Association of Ontario (APSAO). The award is given to a person or group of adults who have a developmental disability, for recognition of achievement in their community.

He won that award, too, placing the plaque on the wall near his kitchen table.

Schut and Lambert are also hopeful they can expand their presentations to include secondary schools.

Lambert is carrying on talking about his past, though it remains hard to do so. He is one of 25 people providing survivor stories for an upcoming book project written by a professor at the University of Waterloo. He will also continue on with presentations at post-secondary schools.

"I really believe this is a story the students will remember and take with them when they do their jobs," said Schut.

By Paul Cluff, orilliamatters.com

The Institution that Remains: the Manitoba Developmental Centre and Disabled Confinement in Manitoba

Wed, 10 May 2023 13:12:17 GMT

Content note: institutional violence, mass graves, sexual abuse, ableism, eugenics

Institutions, be it prisons, personal care homes, group homes, or psychiatric institutions are designed to segregate, isolate and invisibilize disabled people, particularly those labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities. These institutions are unique, but are intricately woven together with carceral logic–which rationalizes confinement and control.

The Manitoba Development Centre (MDC) is one of the last two remaining large-scale institutions for people labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities in Canada. For well over a century it has been used to forcibly remove disabled people from their communities and isolate them. The provincially operated institution has inflicted violence on disabled people who have spent lifetimes incarcerated in the MDC.

After decades of advocacy, the province finally announced on January 29th, 2021 that the MDC would be closing. In a press release, Community Living Manitoba said, “The closure of the Manitoba Developmental Centre is the first step in abolishing institutional care."

The fight for freedom for disabled people is far from over. The need for abolition is more urgent than ever for disabled people. Through this article, I examine the violent history of disability confinement in Manitoba, the generational fight for deinstitutionalization and the need for abolition beyond the closure of the MDC.

Institutional History

Built in 1877, the Stoney Mountain Institution was the first institution constructed to contain disabled people–such that one of the first people incarcerated in Stoney Mountain was charged with being a “lunatic." As eugenics grew across the country, there was an increasing desire for the categorization and segregation of people labeled as “feeble-minded."

Eugenics was central to the development of a white protestant settler colonial state. Across Canada, this was enforced differently, most apparently in Alberta this was legalized through the passage of the Sexual Sterilization Act, 1928. More than 2,800 people were forcibly sterilized through this Act. Indigenous people were “the most prominent victims of the Board’s attention," accounting for more than 25% of people forcibly sterilized between 1969-1972.

While Manitoba did not pass sexual sterilization legislation, institutionalization was used to enforce eugenics through sexual segregation and isolation. Eugenics and institutionalization are settler colonial tools used to eliminate and invisibilize populations deemed “unfit."

Medical Historian Dr. Erika Dyck’s Managing Madness (2017) explains the role of the construction of the Asylum in the prairies alongside the rise of other institutions–provincial legislatures, Indian residential schools, universities, and sanatoriums. She explains, “These institutions dotted the landscape, reminding onlookers of the growing pains of civilization and the reality of settlement that went hand in hand not only with law and order but also disorder and incarceration.”

The Manitoba Home for Incurables (what would become the MDC) was built in 1890. Institutionalization was developed and enforced to eliminate disabled people through isolation, segregation and sterilization. Many non-disabled people were also forcibly institutionalized into the Home for Incurables, including sex workers, Indigenous people, poor people, refugees, Franco-Manitobans and people who used drugs and alcohol.

Institutionalization in large-scale institutions was the primary policy response for disabled people until the 1970s. In Manitoba, three institutions were established to confine and segregate disabled people: the Pelican Lake Training Centre, the Manitoba Home for Defectives and the St. Amant Centre.

Government reports, alongside the testimonies of survivors, detail the violent conditions of incarceration. Staff had complete control over every decision of incarcerated disabled people. There was no access to privacy, such that there were no stalls between toilets, and dormitories were shared with dozens of residents. While significant understaffing resulted in neglect of residents.

Institutions have always been, and continue to be places of immense violence. Institutional settings are inherently violent, and their conditions result in ongoing physical, sexual and emotional violence inflicted by staff. In sworn affidavits, survivors detail routine use of solitary confinement, starvation, sexual, emotional and physical abuse and neglect.

Like prisons, institutions were constructed in rural, remote locations. This forcibly removed disabled people from their communities, and families. Like all institutions across the prairies, police and the RCMP were responsible for the capture and confinement of disabled people. The film, Freedom Tour (2008), documents institutionalization across Canada. In the film, survivors detail the attempted escapes from the institution only to be captured and forced to return to the institution by law enforcement only to be punished by the staff.

Many people were incarcerated in the MDC for their entire lives. And, the cemetery demonstrates murderous conditions of institutional life. The cemetery has headstones for children from 1 years old to people aged 81. While some information is available about the graves, there are believed to be many unmarked graves in the cemetery.

Opposing the violent conditions within institutions, the deinstitutionalization movement emerged. A movement of disabled people, parents of disabled children, scholars, journalists and doctors came together to challenge the system of institutionalization.

Deinstitutionalization commenced in 1982 with the project Welcome Home, but unlike other provinces, Manitoba did not have an end date for institutional closure. In 2011, Community Living Manitoba won a human rights complaint against the MDC resulting in 50 more people being freed from the institution.

Labour and Deinstitutionalization

While most institutions across Canada closed in the 2000s, including BC, Ontario and Alberta, in 2004, the NDP government in Manitoba invested $40 million into upgrades of MDC. How did Manitoba become the national face of institutionalization and confinement of disabled people?

Liat Ben-Moshe’s Decarcerating Disability draws the important parallels between the role of labour unions organizing in maintaining institutionalization and incarceration. In Manitoba, the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU) perfectly demonstrates the connection between institutionalization and incarceration.

MGEU is the leading force for the defense and proliferation of carceral spaces across the province. MGEU represents 32,000 workers, 360 of which are employed at the MDC, and 120 of whom are employed in prisons. This is but a fraction of their large workforce, yet MGEU has spent considerable hours invested in their proliferation.

James Wilt and Bronwyn Dobchuk-Land examine the role of MGEU in Manitoba’s growing carceral landscape, noting that “...while the trend toward punishment and securitization is not unique to Manitoba, the MGEU is a key piece in solving the puzzle of how new jails and police have become a project of the social democratic left.”

A key piece in solving the puzzle of the maintenance of the MDC is MGEU’s continued pressure and political relationships. MGEU has been committed to, and benefitted from the ongoing institutionalization of disabled people in Manitoba.

MGEU has levelled two primary arguments to justify the institutionalization of disabled people in Manitoba. The first, carceral ableism, which justifies that some level of disability requires institutionalization. To do so, MGEU relies on the narrative that the people incarcerated are too disabled and too complex to live in community, a blatant lie used to justify incarceration. There is no level of care, no form of disability that requires incarceration.

In MGEU president’s Michelle Gawronsky’s press release following the news of the closure, she raised concerns about community care as, “The staff at MDC provide a safe, familiar environment and many clients at MDC have complex needs, including 24-hour medical care.”

Despite decades of ableist violence inflicted by the structure and workers of MDC, MGEU has frequently sought to celebrate its members, such that in 2010, MGEU inexplicably purchased radio ads in hopes “this ad campaign will help get the word out so that other Manitobans can hear about the great work our members are doing for MDC clients and their families."

Between 1990 and 2010, there were at least 10 cases of worker-inflicted violence against incarcerated disabled people. In 2007, Dennis Robinson, a 52-year old man incarcerated in the MDC died while on an outing. An inquiry into his death found that the “outing” was supposed to be to the park. Instead, the eight incarcerated residents were taken on a drive around the city–without seat belts. During this drive, staff members stole the incarcerated people’s money to buy themselves coffee which they then drank in front of the residents, proceeded to run personal errands, and ultimately decided to not go to the park. The staff members then left Dennis Robinson in the van, where he was found dead one hour later.

The second argument that’s levelled against the closure of the MDC by MGEU is job loss. The isolated institutional location of MDC was partially justified on the grounds of rural job creation.

In a 2016 election survey commissioned by MGEU, their tenth question asks: “The Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie provides important services to people with intellectual disabilities. It is one of the region’s largest employers and is the source for good jobs that support the local economy. What is your plan, if elected, to ensure MDC remains open?”

But institutional settings have never been good for workers. Historically, the institution relied most heavily on the indentured labour of disabled people. Today this is continued through labour programs that create a second class of workers. This poses the most significant threat to workers.

Yet, MGEU has repeatedly supported the MDC transitioning into an Employment Centre for adults labelled with I/DD. Employment centres such as the ones they are calling for, typically use and proliferate sheltered workshops.

Sheltered workshops rely on sub-minimum wage labour and continue to be used in Manitoba. Sheltered workshops are segregated workplaces or “training programs'' for people labelled with intellectual disabilities. CORCAN, the federal prison labour program, uses the same language of “employment and employability skills training," to justify coerced, underpaid labour. These programs promise training, but for many incarcerated and disabled people it is a lifetime of training.

These “employment programs” typically find workarounds to the minimum wage provisions in the Employment Standards Code by offering people labelled with intellectual disabilities a per diem or honorarium, and thus can pay workers pennies. Sheltered workshops are exploitative programs that put workers at significant risk. As a labour union, MGEU should be fundamentally opposed to these dangerous and coercive workplaces. Instead of supporting these forms of coercive labour, MGEU should be working to unionize disabled workers to instill workplace protections.

Is this deinstitutionalization?

While the MDC will be closing, we are far from close to deinstitutionalization in Manitoba. Disabled people continue to be confined in long-term care homes, group homes, and prisons. Only once every form of institutionalization, confinement and control is abolished can disabled people be free.

Despite the impending closure of MDC, the ongoing institutionalization and segregation of disabled people continues. But one example of this can be seen in the 2018 construction of two segregated homes for “adults with challenging intellectual disabilities." These segregated homes were specially built with “reinforced walls, doors and windows, as well as strengthened plumbing systems." These types of homes have access to “behavioural planning mechanisms," which can include chemical and physical restraints and confinement.

These new forms of institutionalization demonstrate the need for ongoing movements against institutionalization. Liat Ben-Moshe argues that deinstitutionalization is only realized with the abolition of carceral ableist logic. Abolitionists and disability organizers should work together to demand justice and freedom for all for institutionalized people.

For instance, current plans to transform the MDC into a personal care home, a treatment facility, or an employment centre will simply maintain it’s institutional history. Moreover, this erases the violence perpetuated at this site of confinement. Just as in Huronia and Kingston, demands must be made to create a memorial at the site of MDC. This is necessary in order to make “sure that people, locally and nationally, remember the brutal and recent history of eugenics and abuse that took place on the site."

The fight for justice must include accountability. Currently, none of the records from the MDC are publicly available. These records must be made public in order for there to be accountability for the institutionalization of disabled people. Academics and survivors have raised concerns about unmarked graves in the cemetery; this must be investigated. The violence within these institutions must be reckoned with. This injustice cannot be forgotten.

_____

By Megan Linton, Ottawa. @PinkCaneRedLip

Class inaction

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 14:26:09 GMT

In July 2021, survivors of the Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI) – once known as the Child Psychiatric Research Institute – settled a $12 million class-action lawsuit out of court. It was the seventh and – according to Koskie Minsky, the class-action law firm representing survivors – “likely last” class action between survivors of provincially operated residential institutions for people with disabilities and the Ontario government. Each of these seven lawsuits has unveiled horrific accounts of violence, neglect, and abuse of disabled people incarcerated in these institutions.

In Ontario’s institutions, survivors recount being locked in metal cages, forced to haul gravel without pay, and beaten by staff. They wanted justice – which, for many, included financial reparations, government apologies, and for the government to never again run institutions for disabled people.

Class-action lawsuits are one way for groups of people to pursue justice after shared experiences of harm – and on the surface, they seem like a good way for survivors of institutional abuse to get the restitution they deserve. But in looking closely at class-action lawsuits for survivors of institutions in Canada, justice remains elusive.

Hearing their stories

The CPRI settlement in July 2021 would be different from earlier settlements for survivors of provincial disability institutions.

This time, there would be no apology from the government. The institution would remain in operation. Survivors who were “class members” in the class action would be put under a stringent communication ban, which barred them from sharing or archiving their experiences at CPRI.

That meant there would be just one chance to listen to their stories.

Alone in my apartment, I log in to the CPRI settlement agreement hearing. This glitchy Zoom call is the only opportunity for survivors to publicly share what they endured while incarcerated in an institution that promised to care for them. For a few short minutes, the chat function was a place of community and solidarity. It served as a memorial.

“good morning to all who are here finally getting restitution. 8 months of torture for me. Much love to alll that were there”

“I was never the same after that fucking place”

“Me either. Fucking monsters”

The reasons disabled people – and those labelled as such – are forced to live in institutions differ. Some begin living in institutions because of a lack of available resources to support them surviving in their community. For others, the label of “intellectual or developmental disability” is used as justification to expand the incarceration of people whom the Canadian government deems “degenerate”: largely Indigenous, poor, and racialized people.

“The psychiatrists tried to put me down by labelling me ‘schizophrenic’, ‘psychopathic’, and ‘violent,’” recalls Mohawk psychiatric survivor Lionel Vermette in the 1988 collection Shrink Resistant: The Struggle Against Psychiatry in Canada. “The guards attacked my Native identity. They all failed. I’m not a bad person. I’m not violent. I’m an Indian, a good Indian, and I am very proud.”

Institutional scholars Kate Rossiter and Jen Rinaldi use the term institutional violence to describe the widespread abuse, sexual sterilization, corporal punishment, public humiliation, medical experimentation, solitary confinement, and torture that happens inside places like the CPRI. It means that the violence is not an accident, but a deliberate and inherent feature of government-run institutions.

“I was locked in padded rooms till i peed myself starved and more needles of ‘calm me down’ fluid i can remember and many beatings”

“I can’t possibly imagine the number of ppl who have committed suicide because of what happened”

The clerk closes the chat function.

I light a cigarette from the solitary pack I keep at the back of my closet, reserved for the news of another Mad suicide. How many cigarettes does one smoke for the uncountable?

Over the last decade, I have organized and researched alongside survivors of institutions for disabled people, and written about their legacies in policy, media, and social movements. It’s gut-wrenching work that involves paying close attention to disabled death: the 20,000 people killed in institutions like long-term care homes during COVID-19, the endless inquiries into deaths in group homes, the bodies in institutional cemeteries. Much of the information about institutions – like the number of people who died there, number of COVID-19 outbreaks, use of restraints, and even the number of people incarcerated inside them – is not publicly available and is often shielded from even the most savvy Freedom of Information requests by thick walls of medico-legal bureaucracy.

In other words, out-of-court settlements obscure the harms of these institutions, and they often run counter to the demands of survivors for accountability, transparency, and closure.

So, class-action lawsuits are pointed to as one of few windows into the institutions that confine disabled people. In the U.S., class actions against large-scale institutions have exposed the systemic violence of institutions, and in some cases have led to their closure. Abolitionist disability scholar Liat Ben-Moshe refers to these cases as “abolition litigation.” Rather than trying to reform institutions, Ben-Moshe writes, “lawyers did not just seek reparation for or change in the conditions of institutions but sought to prove that these carceral locales are inherently unnecessary and unconstitutional, and therefore need to be closed altogether.”

In Canada, class-action lawsuits against institutions for disabled people have produced different results. Here, 100 per cent of these class actions have been settled out of court. This means the lawsuit never goes to trial – and it’s largely through trials that institutional documents are released and survivors’ testimonies are entered into the public record.

In other words, out-of-court settlements obscure the harms of these institutions, and they often run counter to the demands of survivors for accountability, transparency, and closure.

Bound to an agreement

Class actions are used to remedy a wide variety of harms. Two of the largest class actions in Canadian history show the range of injustices they address: the ongoing lawsuit against Loblaws and other bread sellers for their role in price fixing bread for Canadian bread purchasers between 2001 and 2021, and the $1.9 billion settlement for survivors of abuse at Indian residential schools.

Class actions work pretty well in getting consumers financial reparations for corporate schemes like price fixing, especially when it would be too difficult and expensive for every individual consumer who was affected to launch their own lawsuit against the company. But they do not guarantee the systemic changes that would put an end to the practices that caused plaintiffs to sue in the first place. This was abundantly clear in the class action of survivors of residential schools against the Government of Canada. Fifteen years after the settlement, survivors and their descendants continue to face relentless roadblocks in accessing records about residential schools from the federal government and the Catholic Church.

As class members, survivors of abuse are often bound by non-communication rules that prohibit them from speaking out about their negative experiences.

Lawyers from the Class Action Clinic at the University of Windsor point to another barrier to accessing justice. In, Canada class members are automatically included in a class action unless they opt out. Class members are the people belonging to the group affected by the allegations against the defendant – for example, anyone who bought price-fixed bread from the eight big Canadian bread sellers in the last 20 years. Frequently, the window to opt out of being a class member expires before the settlement agreement hearing even begins. This means that many people don’t even realize they are class members, but after the class action, they can no longer individually sue for damages. As class members, survivors of abuse are often bound by non-communication rules that prohibit them from speaking out about their negative experiences.

There’s also a window of opportunity for class members to claim money. In the instance of CPRI, class members had nine months after the court approved date to file a claim. Many survivors of abusive institutions are unhoused or precariously housed; others have been moved into new institutions like prisons, long-term care facilities, and group homes. When class members are hard to contact, they may find themselves bound to an agreement – or owed money – they don’t even know about.

Once class members have been notified of a settlement, they can make a claim and potentially access settlement money. In the CPRI settlement, the amount of money a class member would receive was determined by a complex point system that set out to determine the severity of the abuses they experienced. To prove that they were abused, survivors had to provide medical records and a sworn affidavit. But for disabled people who do not use verbal communication, they were often not given the necessary tools – like letter boards or tablets – to articulate their experiences.

At the CPRI settlement agreement hearing, survivors spoke to the absence of records in these cases.

“Reason i disagree with the settlement is that there were a lot of kids there who can’t speak for themselves, they can’t tell you what happened to them. But i saw it firsthand.”

“This settlement means you have to have been hospitalized – but there were doctors on staff, so a lot of it was taken care of there.”

“For all the people who can’t speak, it is hard. I have found it hard not to cry for others, for myself.”

The Huronia settlement

Over a decade before the CPRI settlement, a lawsuit against the Huronia Regional Centre was filed by survivors Patricia Seth and Marie Slark after reuniting at Marilyn Dolmage’s kitchen table. Seth and Slark were dropped off at Huronia when they were six and seven years old, respectively, and they remained there for almost 15 years. During that time, Dolmage had worked as a social worker at Huronia and had stayed in touch with the two women.

Huronia was opened in 1876 in Orillia, Ontario – first as the Orillia Asylum for Idiots, later renamed the Ontario Hospital School, then the Huronia Regional Centre. It was the first institution for people labelled with intellectual or developmental disabilities built in Canada. Within its first 100 years, 4,000 children and adults died there.

While institutionalized, Seth and Slark endured horrific abuse: they were locked in metal cages, sexually and physically abused by staff, and watched while in the washroom. Together, they decided to launch a class-action lawsuit in 2007, with Dolmage and her husband Jim acting as litigation guardians. Under law, disabled people who are labelled “incapable” are not permitted to launch a legal action or direct their lawyers, so litigation guardians can help give instructions to lawyers and support disabled claimants.

“When you have an intellectual disability it feels like most people don’t care about [your] opinion, especially if you are poor,” Seth tells me. “And most of us live in poverty.”

This idea of “capacity” is foundational to the legal system and it forms the basis for what researcher Sylvia McKelvie dubs legal ableism. Legal ableism encompasses the ways in which the legal system discriminates against and removes agency from people with disabilities. Seth and Slark’s experience of the class action was marred by systemic and legal ableism – even with their own lawyers.

“When you have an intellectual disability it feels like most people don’t care about [your] opinion, especially if you are poor,” Seth tells me. “And most of us live in poverty.”

“We know what it’s like to be intimidated,” Slark adds. “To have authority figures over us.”

Class actions begin with a certification hearing, where the court approves the case as a class action and approves the lawyers as the representatives of the plaintiffs and defendants. After the certification hearing in 2010, Seth, Slark, and the Dolmages’ relationship with their lawyers at Koskie Minsky – the same class-action law firm that would go on to represent survivors of CPRI – quickly deteriorated.

When I speak to the Dolmages, they say that once the certification hearing was over, they were aggressively “bullied back and forth” by the lawyers. They explain that their lawyers applied intense pressure to Seth and Slark to prepare for trial, then switched tracks, pressuring the two plaintiffs to settle. During that time, Koskie Minsky lawyers met with government lawyers without the plaintiffs present, and they agreed to terms for a proposed settlement – terms that Seth and Slark opposed, and the lawyers refused to change. The lawyers signed the final settlement agreement without telling Seth, Slark, or the Dolmages, or even showing them a copy.

And while Seth, Slark, and the Dolmages were frustrated by the process, they did win some important things: easier access to settlement funds, the right to not return unclaimed funds to the government, and a memorial for survivors.

Though Seth and Slark were seeking $1 billion in damages, in 2013 the lawsuit settled out of court for just $35 million. As is common in class-action lawsuits, about half of that – $18.8 million – was claimed by survivors; $8.5 million of the settlement went to Koskie Minsky’s legal fees, $3 million went to the Law Society’s class proceedings fund, and $4.7 million went to projects that benefit survivors. And while Seth, Slark, and the Dolmages were frustrated by the process, they did win some important things: easier access to settlement funds, the right to not return unclaimed funds to the government, and a memorial for survivors.

Huronia survivors could access settlement funds through one of two streams. The first was a points system, where those who experienced the most severe physical or sexual abuse could claim up to $35,000 – but in order to do so, they were required to submit a sworn affidavit and medical records. The second stream was more accessible: a lump sum payment of $2,000, which survivors could receive by simply checking a box to confirm they attended the institution.

In class actions, when class members don’t fill out forms or cash cheques to claim their settlement money, the unclaimed funds are typically returned to the defendant. In the case of the Huronia settlement, $23.4 million was allocated for survivors, but only $18.8 million of that was claimed, leaving $4.6 million that would have been returned to the Government of Ontario. But Seth and Slark won the right to not return leftover funds in their agreement. Instead, they negotiated for what’s called a cy-près, where they were able to put the unclaimed settlement funds toward research and memorials for survivors of Huronia.

Despite the settlement’s shortcomings, the process sparked news coverage and brought to light the horrific treatment of disabled people confined within institutions. “The settlement has been incredibly productive in terms of relationships, projects, and the opening of public discourse that has allowed a discussion of institutionalization to flourish,” says Dr. Kate Rossiter, a scholar studying institutions who has worked alongside survivors to ensure their stories are remembered.

These victories set Seth and Slark’s case apart from other institutional class actions that followed.

The remaining institutions

Shortly after the Huronia agreement in 2013, two more class actions were filed by survivors of the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls and the Southwest Regional Centre in Chatham-Kent. Both were settled out of court, each for millions less than the Huronia settlement. But these agreements had many of the same stipulations: an option for a smaller, easier-to-access lump sum payment, an apology from the premier, and a redirection of unclaimed funds to developmental disabilities projects.

In 2015, the next settlement agreement was reached on behalf of survivors of 12 additional institutions across Ontario. Settled at $36 million collectively, or $3 million per institution, this was the lowest settlement and would not come with an apology or project fund.

Outside of Ontario, similar class-action lawsuits have been filed by survivors of institutions in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and P.E.I.

The Dolmages have followed these subsequent class-action settlements closely, feeling increasingly frustrated with the outcomes. “Our hopes were that the Huronia settlement would set a strong foundation for future cases,” Marilyn says. “Instead, every case has been more and more watered down.”

The institution that remains

In the 2021 CPRI settlement approval, the judge highlighted the similarities with the Huronia agreement multiple times – but the outcomes were very different.

In the $12 million CPRI settlement, there was no option for survivors to disclose less information to receive a smaller lump sum. The CPRI settlement’s point system only included four “levels” of violence: physical assault and three levels of sexual assault. Every survivor who wanted to receive settlement funds for physical assault, or levels 2 or 3 sexual assault had to submit affidavits and medical or administrative files proving their abuse. Unlike in the Huronia settlement, the levels did not include various forms of physical or emotional abuse – corporal punishment, humiliation, and “non-severe” physical abuse.

This points to the larger issue: that class-action lawsuits cannot put a stop to the harms of government-run institutions.

In the end, there was no apology, no money for further research, and no opportunity for archival projects. The institution remains in operation.

In 2012, only a year after CPRI was de-listed as a residential mental health institution, an autistic child was beaten nearly to death by a staff member there. He was excluded from the class action.

This points to the larger issue: that class-action lawsuits cannot put a stop to the harms of government-run institutions.

“We’re not done fighting yet”

Most class-action lawsuits settle out of court. Research by Jasminka Kalajdzic, author of Class Actions in Canada: The Promise and Reality of Access to Justice, reveals that in Ontario, where there have been over 500 class-action lawsuits, only 18 have gone to trial. Kalajdzic argues that out-of-court settlements obscure the harms of institutionalization experienced by both survivors and those who died while incarcerated. There are no public hearings, and the records of the harms tend to remain inaccessible.

Cindy Scott is one of the many Huronia survivors fighting back against the insufficient class-action settlement agreement and the government that failed to keep the promises it laid out in its 2013 apology to survivors.

“The government got away with it. They killed people,” Scott says. “The government should be ashamed of themselves.”

Scott is a member of Remember Every Name, a Huronia survivors’ organization working to fill in the gaps in knowledge about those who died at Huronia. Before 1958, most of the grave markers in Huronia’s cemetery bear only a number – the order in which people died – and no name. Some grave markers from before 1930 have been removed entirely. Today, no one knows for sure how many people are buried at Huronia – certainly at least 1,379, but likely more than 2,000.

A photo of a large black stone monument, with words engraved on the front. It's standing on a green lawn and surrounded by a dozen people, including a person in a wheelchair, a number of children, and one person who is reading from a paper.

In 2015, Remember Every Name found out that a sewage line had been built through the cemetery of the Huronia Regional Centre decades ago, which may have disturbed graves. Survivors have also protested the government’s memorial, which was built as a condition of the settlement. Survivors have noted inaccuracies in the plaques designed to memorialize people buried in the cemetery. So, Remember Every Name used the unclaimed funds from the settlement to create their own memorial – to this day the only institutional memorial approved by survivors in Ontario.

Sarah Jama, co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, says the way class-action settlements have played out is part of a bigger culture of secrecy around government-run institutions. “Governments of all jurisdictions in so-called Canada continue to try to bury the deep harms and the violence perpetuated by the state through these publicly funded institutions,” she remarks.

Today, institutions remain an ongoing reality in the lives of disabled people, particularly those labelled with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Scott points to long-term care institutions as one place where disabled Canadians are still confined – and where at least 20,000 people died during the pandemic.

The underlying goal of institutions remains constant: isolate and segregate disabled people at the lowest cost possible. In the words of late disability radical Marta Russell, “Though transfer to nursing homes and similar institutions is almost always involuntary, and though abuse and violation within such facilities is a national scandal, it is a blunt economic fact that, from the point of view of the capitalist ‘care’ industry, disabled people are worth more to the Gross Domestic Product when occupying institutional ‘beds’ than they are in their own homes.”

Talking with Marilyn Dolmage, Cindy Scott, and Sarah Jama, the path forward seems clear.

We need a future free of institutions, with supportive and well-resourced communities in which disabled people can thrive. Though class actions can win some restitution for survivors – money, apologies, and media coverage – they haven’t brought us much closer to this just future.

______

Article written by Megan Linton

Megan Linton is a disabled writer, researcher, PhD student and creator of Invisible Institutions , a documentary podcast and research project exploring the past and present of institutions for people labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Canada. Find her on Twitter at @PinkCaneRedLip .

Source: https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/class-inaction

I want his name – Ronald Allan Sutherland – to be remembered

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 12:44:18 GMT

September 2, 2022

Debbie Vernon

Remember Every Name Group

vernon@muskoka.com

Dear Ms. Vernon

Thank you for your kind and informative e-mails in assisting me on my journey of discovery since early June. Your engaging missives warmed my heart. I am writing to you again to share more information on the tragic, unexpected death of my brother while he was a resident at the Orillia Asylum for Idiots (Huronia Regional Center). The anguish I felt after recently reading his hospital file, can be comparable only to what our parents must have felt the morning they received the 6:30 a.m. call that their baby boy was dying. Although it has been almost sixty-five years since his passing, the knowledge of the way he died remains painful.

I recently became acquainted with Remember Every Name and wrote on the site about my brother’s death in 1957. Debbie immediately responded and gave me the address to request a copy of his file. Jessica, a Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services forwarded a copy of the file on July 15th of this year. After sharing the Autopsy results in the file, Debbie passed on the information to contact Marilyn, the Litigation Guardian for the Class Action against the Ontario government. Marilyn stated that he was the youngest admitted and that my brother died sooner after admission than anyone she’s heard of.

Ronald Allan was born July 24, 1956 and died December 12, 1957 at twenty-four pounds and thirty inches tall. He was admitted to the institution November 14th, 1957 at 506 days old and was pronounced dead twenty-eight days later. His short life has been masked with mystery until July 15th 2022.

I am thankful that this last picture taken of him at the institution was included in his file.

I have vivid memories of seeing my parents and grandparents holding him on the red couch in our living room. I remember peering at his smiling face through the rails of his white crib and eventually climbing in to cuddle, kiss and hug him. I have strong recollections of gently pulling him onto my lap in his crib and feeding him his bottle. Strong in my memory are the words, he was such a good boy, he never cried, he was always smiling and happy…spoken by my parents and Baba. I don’t know if it was his admission or a visit, but I remember walking through a room at the institution, with tall windows, full of cribs with crying children, specifically a curly, red-headed dancing girl with hydrocephalus. Ronnie’s crib seemed to be in the centre of this room. Clear in my mind is my mother’s voice saying, “…they all said it was for the best.” I still recall being wrapped in a blanket on a December morning, and my crying father carrying me to a neighbour’s house the day of his funeral. To this day, my sisters, children, nieces, and grandchildren still visit Ronnie’s gravesite on Cawthra Road in Mississauga (Cooksville) regularly.

Ronnie was diagnosed with Mental Deficiency without Psychosis, I.Q. Idiot - Internal Hydrocephalus and Microcephaly was found at autopsy. The autopsy report states that he died of Toxemia, Perforated Stomach and Mild Pneumonia. Records written on November 15, 1957, state that, “Patient has lumps in his abdomen, which are probably feces.”, and he was given saline enemas and Milk of Magnesia regularly during his twenty-eight day stay to relieve his chronic constipation: STAT at times. Ronnie consistently, “Did not take fluids well.”, On November 25th, this sixteen-month-old child, “….is taking fluids poorly. Takes fluids better from a spoon than a bottle. Bottle feeding discontinued.” On November 28, 1957 he was given Serpenray, (sedative) to quell his fretting and, “The patient appeared comfortable when examined.” For the entire time he was in residence he had a fever over one-hundred degrees, was fretful and cried, was diagnosed with pneumonia, and given alcohol rubs, chloromycetin (eye infection antibiotic) and chlor-tripolon (decongestant).

A letter was sent to my parents on December 9th as a follow up to our mother’s inquiry as to Ronnie’s current health on December 6th. I can only imagine how she felt receiving it via Canada Post only days following his death. The letter From Dr. Wilson, M.D. states, “Ronald has had some elevation in temperature most of the time since admission. He had a respiratory infection the day he was admitted. Since then, his chest has improved, and appeared to be clear most of the time. At times he has some degree of asthma, but this is not of a serious nature. He is getting teeth, and this may cause a slight elevation of temperature. At times he is fretful and cries. He will often stop crying immediately when approached and given attention. His appetite is usually satisfactory, and he is adjusting slowly to his new environment.” The four days before he died the notes also read, “Patient was better. Constipation persists”, “Spent a good day”, “Good appetite”. On December 11th, “Spent a good day. Fretful at intervals.” However, on December 12, 1957 after seven days of Toxemia, his stomach perforated causing the contents to spill and further poison his body, causing his excruciatingly painful death.

There is also a Discharge Report from the Hospital for Sick Children dated August 21, 1957 in my brother’s file. It states that he was admitted in March and in July of 1957 for an, “…upper respiratory infection”. He was given, “…sulfa, triple sulfa suspension drams, ephedrine nose drops and phenobarb.” However, while a resident at the Orillia Asylum, it is confusing to read that there is no record that any of these medications were administered.

Even with this file in hand, that has answered so many questions, I have had for decades; I now question the adequacy of the care my brother received. He had a fever over one hundred degrees, cried and was fretful for twenty-eight consecutive days with minor intervention. The Medical Certificate of Death indicates that “Approximate interval between onset and death-Toxemia-7 days.”

My brother’s name was often misspelled and our home address was typed incorrectly and another road often typed on many of the documents in his file as well.

I appreciate the time you have taken to read my heartfelt letter written through the grief I still feel. I want his name – Ronald Allan Sutherland – to be remembered , so that no other helpless child has to endure similar neglect. I welcome your advice and input.

Respectfully

Diane Sutherland Cummings

cc: Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario

Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Hon. Sylvia Jones, MPP, Ontario Minister of Health Adam Chambers, MP, Simcoe North

Hon. Jill Dunlop, MPP Simcoe North

Vici Clark, Project Coordinator, Family Alliance, Durham Family Network

Marilyn Dolmage, Litigation Guardian

Documentary Unloved by Barri Cohen

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 13:09:22 GMT

MEDIA

Bracebridge Examiner Article by Mary Beth Hartill - April 12, 2022

Muskoka 411 Article by Maddie Binning - April 28, 2022

Point of View Magazine Interview by Marc Glassman - May 2, 2022

Canadian Journal of Disability Studies Film Review - April 2023

Good Mornings with Dahlia Kurtz on Canada Talks

Barri Cohen (Director & Co-Executive Producer), Debbie Vernon (Survivor Supporter) & Patricia Seth (Survivor & Co-Litigant on Class action Lawsuit) joined Good Mornings with Dahlia Kurtz on Canada Talks, SiriusXM Channel 167 to talk about The Hot Docs film; UNLOVED: Huronia’s Forgotten Children.

Film Trailer

Some young adults with disabilities are stuck in long-term care. They say that’s discrimination.

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 17:21:51 GMT

Without proper support to live at home, they have no choice but to stay in "medical prison cells".

Sometimes, the most exciting place Victoria Levack can go is her bedroom. The decorations testify to the 30-year-old’s interests and aspirations. A constellation of photos of her with celebrities at Hal-Con, Halifax’s annual comic convention, fills one section. Figurines of superheroes and Disney princesses surround the room. Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Wonder Woman are her favourites: strong, intelligent women, ready to protect others. They both reflect parts of Levack’s personality, too. She spends much of her time advocating for adults with disabilities, like her, to have equal access to opportunities, whether that’s sexual education or, most pressingly, housing.

For the past decade, Levack has lived, reluctantly, at the Arborstone Enhanced Care facility in Halifax. She doesn’t dream of living in a castle; she just wants a bachelorette apartment where she can cook her own meals and choose recreational activities beyond bingo games with seniors.

Spending her 20s in a long-term care facility was never Levack’s plan. She first moved to Halifax for university, looking for social and career opportunities that weren’t available to her in her small town of Berwick, N.S. But she got sick after she couldn’t receive adequate care while living in a university residence. Levack has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. She needs help with dressing and personal hygiene. She drives her electric wheelchair with her right pointer finger and uses her left hand for everything else.

Levack returned to her parents’ home in Berwick, but she couldn’t find proper care there, either. As an adult, she couldn’t access supports she’d received during elementary and high school. She had some home care, but the workers wouldn’t always come when scheduled. Caregiving duties fell to her stepmother, who Levack says was often scared to leave the house for fear that her daughter wouldn’t have support. “The uncertainty of not knowing whether I was going to get help that day was terrifying,” Levack recalls.

One option she looked into was a provincial housing program for adults with disabilities. Three or four people share a home, and support staff come in on shifts or live in the building as well. Levack says she was told she didn’t qualify because her needs were too high. She moved to Arborstone instead. “I didn’t get to make a choice,” she says.

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It’s isolating. Pre-pandemic, Levack limited her time at the facility to mealtimes and bedtime, spending her days meeting up with friends, volunteering with disability organizations, people-watching at coffee shops or going to the movies. The only recreational activities at the care home that she really enjoyed were the monthly dances. Yet even at those, she wouldn’t invite friends who live elsewhere. “I’m embarrassed by where I live,” she admits.

COVID-19 brought an end to social events and restricted her to her own floor. “We were the last group to get our freedom,” she says in early July, a day after spending time with her parents at the waterfront, her first outing since restrictions lifted.

The pandemic has taken a stark toll on Canadian long-term care facilities. Between March 1, 2020, and Feb. 15, 2021, more than 14,000 residents of long-term care facilities or retirement homes died due to outbreaks, accounting for more than two- thirds of COVID-19 deaths in Canada, reports the Canadian Institute of Health Information.

The crisis has prompted numerous reports detailing long-standing deficiencies in staffing, staff training and physical infrastructure, including proper ventilation. But the impacts on people with disabilities living in these facilities are less discussed. “Whenever we talk about long-term care, we talk about our elders and our seniors because that’s the standard population,” observes Levack. “They forget that we — young adults — also exist in this system.”

Levack is one of 87 Nova Scotians between the ages of 30 and 49 who live in long-term care facilities. Another 21 are under the age of 30, according to May 2021 data from the province’s department of health and wellness. Across the country, thousands of people well below old age are housed in institutions like nursing homes. In Ontario, for example, more than 4,700 long-term care residents, or 12 percent, were under the age of 65 in April 2021.

Like Levack, not everyone wants to be there. Some are hoping the outcry over long-term care facilities will bolster enthusiasm for government funding programs that make living at home a viable option. With direct, individualized funding, people with disabilities are given money to hire, train and schedule care staff, such as nurses or personal support workers. This money is separate from provincial or territorial disability supports that are intended to pay for shelter and living expenses, like food. But while advocates say that individualized funding can improve people’s lives — and in some cases even save them — it’s not without complications. Programs can be hard to access, and funding is often precarious. And money is only part of the solution. The most effective programs also incorporate support systems to help people manage their care and connect with their community.

Throughout the pandemic, Levack has been exploring how she can move out of her residence and get the supports she needs to live independently. COVID-19 has tested her resolve. “I have a lot more anger now,” she says. “I have a lot less faith in people. If this pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that people don’t view disabled people as full citizens.”

“If I said, ‘You’re 25 years old; we’re going to send you to a nursing home to live,’ you’d be outraged,” says Tim Stainton, co-director of the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia. “Why should the fact that the 25-year-old has a disability make a difference? Why shouldn’t we be outraged about that?”

Claire McNeil, a lawyer with Dalhousie Legal Aid Service in Halifax, says that living in long-term care impedes young adults’ ability to meaningfully participate in their communities. In her opinion, it’s a “classic” example of systemic discrimination — and a landmark new ruling by Nova Scotia’s top court supports that argument.

In October, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found that systemic discrimination occurred in a case involving three people with disabilities who were housed in a psychiatric hospital for years rather than being assisted to live in the community.

“There is ample evidence…to support the conclusion that the manner in which the province provides social assistance to persons with disabilities…creates a disadvantage that is unique to them,” the judgment reads. The decision overturns a 2019 ruling by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, which had rejected the broader claim of systemic discrimination despite finding that the government had harmed the three individuals by keeping them institutionalized.

McNeil represented the Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia in both the original case and the successful appeal. She calls the October ruling “a significant breakthrough” in the struggle for equality. “This decision is the first of its kind in Canada in finding that a large group of people with disabilities have been systematically discriminated against over decades by their government,” she says. “[It] will affect hundreds of people living in institutions or relegated to wait-lists or denied meaningful access to the basic social assistance they require to live in community.”

Canada has ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which states that people with disabilities have the right to “live in the community with choices equal to others.” This includes having access to a range of residential and community supports and being able to choose where and with whom they live.

The convention does provide a useful framework when discussing human rights, says McNeil. But there’s no Canadian statute that directly enforces it in the country, leaving compliance up to a patchwork of various laws and the courts. She hopes the new ruling will set an important example in Nova Scotia and beyond.

Individualized funding is not a new idea — it grew out of the movement away from institutions in the latter half of the 20th century. Unlike traditional models of home care, however, in which government funding flows to agencies that then provide services to clients, individualized funding gives money directly to people to purchase the supports they want and need. Today, all 10 provinces offer some form of direct funding, but the programs are often limited, serving only a small percentage of home-care clients. Advocates would like to see much wider adoption, arguing that anyone with a disability should have the option of direct funding.

For programs to succeed, individuals’ needs must determine funding; giving everyone who has a disability the same amount isn’t enough, explains inclusion advocate Tim Stainton. Recipients also need training on the logistics of managing payroll and schedules, and money to cover administrative costs, he says. Funding recipients will sometimes pay an agency to handle all the administrative tasks.

Stainton says that providing individualized funding costs governments about the same, or less, than institutionalized care. “It’s relatively cost-neutral,” he says. “But on the benefit side, it’s much better.” A systematic review he co-authored in 2019 found that people with disabilities who received individualized funding reported positive outcomes such as improved self-image and community integration. Increased autonomy and control were also linked to better quality of life.

Fighting for individualized funding has lifted Jonathan Marchand out of despair and helped him imagine a future for himself. Marchand, 45, has lived in a long-term care facility in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Que., for eight years, after a bout of pneumonia when he was 34 devastated his health. Marchand, who has muscular dystrophy, was told he would need a ventilator and constant care for the rest of his life — and that these supports were only available in a long-term care home.

Marchand protested outside Quebec’s legislature for five days in the summer of 2020, camping out in a cage to demonstrate what his life is like in long-term care. As a result, he was promised the supports he needs to live on his own. But the journey out of what he calls his “medical prison cell” hasn’t been easy. His release from the facility was pushed back several times; he wasn’t allowed to train the staff who would be working with him because only nurses, and not personal support workers, are legally allowed to suction his tracheostomy, and it costs more to hire nurses.

Ultimately, Marchand thinks long-term care facilities should be closed. Until then, he’s advocating for himself and others to be able to hire and train their own caregivers so they can live independently. “We need to shift financial resources away from large-scale institutions into community solutions,” he said in July 2021, a month before moving to his own apartment.

Stories of people who choose to die because they lack adequate supports haunt and motivate Paul Gauthier, a former Paralympian and the co-founder and executive director of the Individualized Funding Resource Centre Society in Vancouver. He knew a woman with a spinal-cord injury who decided to have a medically assisted death last year because she didn’t want to live in a long-term care facility. He grieves her loss.

“People are utilizing medical assistance in dying because they feel like they’re being a burden to their family or friends,” says Gauthier. “MAID should not be an option if supports could solve the problem.”

Gauthier’s resource centre helps people apply for Choice in Supports for Independent Living (CSIL), an individualized funding program that allows British Columbians with physical disabilities to arrange the support services they need. The centre’s staff can also handle administrative tasks associated with the funding.

Gauthier helped develop CSIL and uses it himself. Created in 1994, the program assisted 956 people in 2015- 16, providing an average of $7,360 per month to pay for home-care workers and other services, according to a recent study of direct funding programs by the University of Manitoba’s Centre on Aging. Notably, 80 percent of clients were under age 65.

The difference between traditional home care and CSIL is “night and day,” says Gauthier. He notes that often people don’t apply for the funding because they aren’t given information about it or become intimidated by the administrative work it involves. But the province allows those who use CSIL to designate someone to be their representative, he says, enabling those with a range of cognitive abilities to participate. “We really, really believe that all people with disabilities can be on individualized funding through the CSIL program in one way or another.”

Securing proper funding can help people live independently, but it does not automatically produce stability. Chloe Atkins has used direct funding in both Alberta and Ontario and is quick to suggest it to others. But she’s aware that her life is built on a rocky foundation.

“I live better than most people, but it looks better than it is,” she admits from the Toronto condo that she shares with her spouse and two of her four children. In 2018, she started receiving direct funding from the provincial government to hire personal support workers to meet her needs, whether that’s stocking the freezer with homecooked meals or showering.

Atkins, who has a PhD in political theory and a post-doc in law, leads a University of Toronto research team that is examining the experiences of self-employed people with disabilities. Her position is volunteer; she lives off a disability pension.

Finding a wheelchair-accessible condo with space for her family was difficult. She worries about money. “We’re servicing the largest mortgage of our lives,” Atkins says.

Yet she’s determined to not return to the “hell” of long-term care facilities. She lived in a now-closed Toronto residence for a few months between 1999 and 2000. Atkins, 34 at the time, was struggling to find proper medication for her myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that weakens the skeletal muscles. She can go from appearing “normal” to being completely paralyzed and relying on a ventilator, she says.

Eventually, she improved enough to leave the facility. She worked as a university professor in Alberta for two decades before returning to Toronto in 2016 for health reasons. But she remembers the indignity of helping her visiting children with homework while the smell of feces from residents’ unchanged diapers hung stagnant in the air.

Now, she lives with the fear that her disability supports will be reduced. “There’s such jeopardy, even if you don’t live in long-term care,” Atkins says.

Joseph Arnold’s life during Ontario’s pandemic lockdowns was fairly typical. He frequently walked around his neighbourhood; he attended non-profit board meetings via Zoom; he talked to his brothers in Mexico City and Los Angeles over Skype; he visited with his elderly mother outside his co-op apartment building in Toronto. But undergirding these daily activities was a sophisticated network of paid and unpaid supports that ensured Arnold could live in his own apartment.

Arnold, 49, has cerebral palsy. He needs help eating, dressing and toileting. He walked when he was younger, but he’s used a wheelchair for years. He’s been involved with Neighbours Allied for Better Opportunities in Residential Support (NABORS) since the non-profit began more than 30 years ago. The agency, which receives its core funding from the Ontario government but also accepts donations, helps adults with developmental disabilities to live independently. NABORS employs personal support workers (so it’s not a direct funding model), but Arnold and the other 11 supported individuals choose the staff who will work for them and create their schedules and duties. Each supported member must also have an unpaid support circle — a group of family, friends and sometimes former NABORS employees that helps them make decisions.

Arnold communicates by pointing to pictures in his communication book — some are of friends and relatives, some are graphics of ideas and objects — and through a combination of American Sign Language and homemade gestures. His staff and support circle members help others understand what he’s saying. Not all of them get it right every time, Arnold says, joking.

More than a decade ago, Arnold decided he wanted a personal support worker to spend the night in his apartment so he wouldn’t have to worry if his morning support was late. His circle helped him arrange overnight support and assisted with his move into a two-bedroom apartment so the support worker would have a place to sleep.

“We’re messy, but it works,” says Gail Jones, NABORS’ executive director. Each person’s situation is unique, and there are many details to co-ordinate. Beyond their paid care, each supported member must receive a minimum of 15 hours of unpaid help a week. Some might receive more. The pandemic reinforced the importance of informal supports. “It’s been a safety net,” she says. Circle members reached out virtually to supported members and helped them find activities they could do that limited their risk of contracting COVID-19. In some cases, circle members showed up in person to check on supported members. “Circles were there for people again and again,” says Jones.

Each of the people NABORS supports has a different circle. Most have seven or eight members, but Jones says she’s seen them range from four to 20. Sometimes, circle members move away for school or work. If someone in Arnold’s circle leaves, he decides who will replace them. Bruce Kappel became part of Arnold’s circle in 1994, when he was researching the history of NABORS.

“Joe nailed me in the middle of a meeting and made me get down on one knee and asked me to join his circle. It was kind of a reverse proposal,” Kappel recalls. “I agreed to come to one meeting and see how it went. I think it went well.”

Officially, Kappel helps Arnold communicate, but often, he’s inviting someone else into the pair’s ongoing conversation fuelled by decades of inside jokes and memories. They’ve spent more than 20 years laughing about the time Kappel left the wheels of Arnold’s wheelchair in the snowbank after a meeting. (Thankfully, they quickly returned to find them.)

But the laughter stops when Arnold starts talking about how he sometimes wonders if his life would be easier if he moved to a long-term care residence. Arnold likes his support circle, but hiring and scheduling staff can be stressful. And while he wouldn’t be able to decide what to eat if he lived in a facility, at least he wouldn’t have to wait for the elevator to get fixed like he does in his co-op building. (Only one person NABORS has supported has ever moved to a long-term care residence, says Jones: a senior woman who decided she wanted to. Members of her support circle still visit her regularly.)

Kappel chokes up when he hears Arnold musing about long-term care. “When things feel confusing or out of control, you [can] call me,” he tells him. “Does that help?”

“Yeah,” Arnold responds.

“Yeah?” Kappel echoes, regaining his composure. “Good.”

In August, Victoria Levack learned her dream was coming true. She was approved to be part of a pilot project, funded by the Nova Scotia government, in which four adults under the age of 50 who need high levels of physical care because of their disabilities would be given 24-hour assistance to live in condos in the community. Two individuals would share each condo. The plan is for her to move into her new home in late December or early January. All participants have been told they won’t have to return to long-term care unless their needs significantly increase, Levack says.

“I want to be able to live a normal life,” she says, listing all the everyday, “western kind of hard” problems she expects to encounter: ensuring her laundry is done, creating meal plans. (She wants to have three-cheese tortellini with feta, pesto and red peppers for her inaugural meal at the apartment.) But her enthusiasm is tempered by apprehension.

“I’m feeling a lot of pressure to get it right,” Levack admits. “If this project doesn’t get extended, hundreds of people will be stuck in institutions, and that’s terrifying. I will have gotten out, but I’ve got no one else with me, except for the other people [in the pilot]. I have to get this right for the rest of us.”

Once she crosses Arborstone’s threshold on moving day, she’s not planning to return — even for visits or the dances she used to love. “I am never stepping foot in here again.”

By Meagan Gillmore | November 15, 2021 from https://broadview.org/young-people-with-disabilities-long-term-care

Placing Young Disabled in Nursing Homes

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 19:54:40 GMT

Developmentally disabled adults, some as young as 21, are quietly being moved into nursing homes because the Ontario government has nowhere else for them to live.

While the province is closing down one set of institutions for those with developmental disabilities – the regional centres – it is using long-term care facilities to house more than 1,600 other people with developmental disabilities. The developmentally disabled languish there – surrounded by the frail elderly receiving end-of-life care – while waiting for scarce residential placements in the community.

Todd Matthews, 44, who has Down syndrome, lived with his mom in Newfoundland until she died three years ago. Today, Todd lives at the Avalon Retirement Centre in Orangeville with people twice his age while he waits for a placement in a group home. He will probably have to wait at least five years.

Cindy Matthews, his sister-in-law, brought him to Ontario and sought the assistance of Community Living Dufferin County to have him in her home.

She received $2,500 a year to pay for support workers and Todd was placed in a day work program. But it wasn’t enough to give him the 24-hour supervision he needs and Cindy burned out. Although gentle and well-behaved, he might walk outside without a coat, burn himself on the stove or be frightened by an emergency. “I would like him to be with his peers in a group home,” laments Cindy, 50, who works in the same nursing home and sees Todd every day.

Todd’s home now is a four-bed ward. “I think he deserves better,” says Cindy.

Karen Jobbins, 52, successfully lived in the Bracebridge community for 49 years, but her world fell apart when her elderly mother’s health failed three years ago. When her mother became ill, sister Debbie Vernon moved Jobbins into her home and tried to care for her while requesting around $40,000 a year to support the disabled woman full-time in her own rented accommodation. Part of that plan allowed for a roommate to live rent-free in return for providing overnight care.

This may seem like a lot of money, but Vernon points out the government is spending more than that – roughly $46,000 a year – to put her sister in the nursing home. When Vernon was turned down for funding and no appropriate group home could be found, Jobbins had to move into the Pines Long Term Care Facility.

Vernon is heart-broken that her sister has lost contact with all the people she used to see in the community as she went about her activities, and that she no longer gets to go swimming regularly. She is also sad she had to break a promise to her now-deceased father that Jobbins would never be institutionalized.

In an email she writes, “Unlike the very elderly people she lives among, Karen is waiting to live.”

Professor Patricia Spindel, a senior advisor for Community Living Ontario for almost a decade,has been studying the movement of the developmentally disabled into nursing homes for more than a decade. A professor of family and community social services at the University of Guelph-Humber College, she wrote her PhD thesis on the long-term care sector. After Ontario stopped placing children with developmental disabilities in nursing homes in the 1980s, Spindel says she thought that issue had been put to rest.

However, after a brief lull, a new trend involving adults began and Spindel started tracking the new “institutionalization” of the developmentally disabled into nursing homes.

The huge increase of nursing home beds in recent years produced, in some jurisdictions, an over-supply of beds, she says, so that funnelling the developmentally disabled there has helped keep the nursing homes lucrative and filled. She points out that nursing home beds are relatively cheap – cheaper than spaces in either group homes or regional centres – and many of the homes are for-profit enterprises.

Spindel discovered that people with developmental disabilities are, on average, 31 years younger than the general nursing home average age of 83. Some are as young as 18.

A Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care report in October states that the 1,691 developmentally disabled residents in nursing homes are physically healthier, more independent and use less medication than the elderly residents. As well, they have one-fifth the physical care needs of the elderly residents.

On the other hand, they are two to three times more likely to have behaviours such as agitation, anxiety, demands for attention, hoarding and aggression.

Barb Gauntlett, of London, Ont., a developmental support worker for the Alice Saddy Association, has more than 40 developmentally disabled clients living in nursing homes and says “20 don’t belong there.”

One client, whom she succeeded in getting moved out into a home, was only 21 years old.

One of the causes of the movement into nursing homes was the closing of area regional centres for the developmentally disabled, she says. With insufficient resources in the community, people “are not given choices” and end up in nursing homes by default, Gauntlett notes.

The death of a care-giving parent often sets the stage for a move to a nursing home, she says, as waiting lists for residential placements in the community are lengthy. London has a waiting list of 250 (Toronto’s list has more than 2,000 people).

One of her clients, who is 60 years old, has told her, “I would rather live in a house,” and Gauntlett says that shouldn’t be an unreasonable goal.

“Who wants to be in a nursing home? It’s the new institution, the new dumping ground.”

As Janis Jaffe-White, volunteer co-ordinator with the Toronto Family Network, a parent support group for families coping with developmental disabilities, puts it: “People are just being moved from one institution to another.”

She adds, “If the Ministry of Community and Social Services provided adequate community support, then families would not have to resort to nursing homes. I have lots of families at risk and this is not an appropriate action.”

People interviewed for this story wanted to be clear that they were not criticizing nursing home staff for their care nor questioning the need for such places for the frail elderly. But they have serious questions about the appropriateness of putting younger people with developmental disabilities into these homes.

An inappropriate placement may be responsible for the death of 59-year-old Keith Croteau on Jan. 25 following an alleged beating by another developmentally disabled resident of a Sudbury nursing home.

His sister Sandra says Keith lived successfully in the community with supports until his mother’s death in 2001. He suffered a major depression and wouldn’t eat or take care of himself and ended up needing round-the-clock care. Upon the advice of Keith’s community worker, the family decided to place Keith in the Extendicare York nursing home, she says.

When a roommate – a much older man – died, Keith was upset, Sandra remembers. “He said, `I’m going to die in here.'”

However, he adjusted over time and Sandra felt “he was being taken care of and he was doing good.”

Fellow Extendicare resident, Bryan Belliveau, 55, who also has a developmental disability, has been charged with second-degree murder in Keith’s death. Sandra has asked for an inquest and questions how Belliveau was selected as her brother’s roommate.

The developmentally disabled who need extra care shouldn’t be lumped into nursing homes with the elderly, Sandra says. “There’s no place for them to go. There are only three institutions left and they are closing them. A 59-year-old wants to be out, doing stuff.”

Sudbury-area MPP Shelley Martel agrees that younger people with developmental disabilities aren’t a good fit in long-term care facilities.

“My concern is that long-term care is inappropriate for them by age and inappropriate to have their needs met.”

Last July, the social services ministry signed a protocol with the health ministry spelling out the procedure for moving the developmentally disabled into nursing homes if there are insufficient community-based resources.

“It’s sick. It’s perverted, ” says Linda Till, 52, who rescued her adopted daughter Becky, now 34, from a nursing home when she was 11 years old. The uproar over the plight of children in nursing homes resulted in a ministerial decision in the mid-1980s to stop sending children to them.

Now, Till foresees a similar battle to keep the older developmentally disabled out of nursing homes.

“It’s regressive in the extreme,” says Till. “But it is consistent with the response to the developmentally disabled by government and the general public. It permeates every element of society. We have an aversion that is unexplained. We shuttle them off to be hidden.”

Till lives in Sharon, north of Newmarket, and fears that when she dies, Becky may be forced back into the kind of nursing home she was freed from as a child.

Keith Powell, executive director of Community Living Ontario, wants Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur to invest in more community placements so young people with disabilities don’t have to go into nursing homes.

“What alarmed us (about the protocol) was the clear direction to think about moving people out of community and into long-term care,” says Powell. “This is entirely inconsistent with what we were being told (by government).”

After more than 50 years of working with the developmentally disabled, Powell says his agency “knows that in an institution there is a huge risk and a huge price to pay.”

Meanwhile, Cindy Matthews does her best to make sure Todd has as normal a life as possible. Todd has been allowed to continue in his day program out in the community where he earns spending money by doing piece work. It helps to pay for his cable and telephone in the nursing home.

There have been glitches, such as when a bout of flu closed the nursing home for six weeks and Todd wasn’t allowed to leave. But he is used to being around the elderly, having lived his whole life with his mother and grandmother.

Todd is actually a good caregiver, says Cindy, adding he used to put his mother’s blankets in the dryer to warm them up when she was ill. He also helps set the dinner table and can do other useful tasks for the other residents.

Cindy’s number is on Todd’s speed dial and she talks to him every evening as well as throughout the day while she is at work scheduling staff.

Both she and her husband Harry, Todd’s brother, are 50 and working full-time. They want to do their best for Todd and are hoping that, one day, he will be able to live in a house with people his own age.

At 44, Cindy says, “Todd deserves to live in the community and to have his own room.”

Source: Toronto Star, Trish Crawford - Feb 16 2007

CBC Listen with Jeff Douglas: Institutionalization

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:47:28 GMT

Simon Snyder from Enfield, N.S., spent seven years at an institution for Nova Scotians with intellectual disabilities. He's opening up about his painful past to educate the next generation about the truths of institutionalization. Host Jeff Douglas spoke with Simon, as well as writer and autism advocate Jake Lewis, one of the youth taking part in a nation-wide project called The Truths of Institutionalization: Past and Present.

Aired: Aug. 24, 2021 from Mainstreet NS with Jeff Douglas

Huronia Regional Centre survivors appealing to Parry Sound-Muskoka and Simcoe MPPs for accessibility

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 15:26:12 GMT

The money is raised, turns out the hard part is getting the go-ahead from the province.

Cindy Scott, a survivor of Huronia Regional Centre, stands on a piece of branch. She put it there to help her remember the spot. She is facing rows of markers that lay flat on the ground.

Each marker has a number and, according to Debbie Vernon, communication co-ordinator of Remember Every Name, an advocacy organization formed to ensure the institutions survivors and victims are not forgotten, each number represents the order in which they died.

“They just kicked it in,” Scott said. She says she was seven years old when she witnessed the wrapped corpse of an adult flling into a hole.

The memories come in flashes, said Scott, who now lives in Orillia. The survivors walking through the Huronia Regional Centre Cemetery in Orillia with her on a sunny day in June agree that’s how it happens — the flashes of memory.

Betty Bond of Bracebridge recalls a young boy in a gown — the gowns bear numbers because the residents became nameless — being asked why he was still in his gown. He said he was told to as punishment. The response was harsh and brutal as the young lad’s body smashed against a hard surface in the cafeteria — Bond said she and the others learned later the boy died from the blow.

Bev Link of Bracebridge was forced into a straitjacket and into a cold dark cellar for two days for having stolen a candy. Bond said Link, being Indigenous, was often treated particularly cruelly.

A monument states “in memory of those developmentally handicapped people who lived and died within the community of the Ontario Hospital School Orillia (one of many names the centre had over the years) from 1887 to 1971. More than 2,000 people were laid to rest here.”

The survivors maintain there are disparities between the encryption and the truth. Harold Dougall says the number of dead is likely triple what is stated, and Bond said not all who within the centre’s walls were developmentally delayed.

Link, who is not as steady on her feet as she once was, did not join the others on the walk through the cemetery. She sat on a small lawn chair near a monument that was unveiled in 2019 and specifically designed for the survivors, victims, and their families.

“That’s me,” said Dougall, pointing to a bird atop the monument with its wings fully outstretched — soaring to freedom.

Their desire is to install benches and a walkway so survivors and the families can access the monument, and sit and reflect. The $25,000 fundraising goal is reached, thanks to Gail Milliken, the sister of survivor Brian Logie, who donated $20,500.

“(Milliken) has requested a small bronze plaque with her brother’s name on it be embedded into the walkway or on one of the benches,” said Vernon. “She knows and understands the history of the institution and wanted to show her ongoing love and support for her brother by making this amazing contribution. We plan to honour her request.”

However, they have hit a snag and have launched a bid for support from Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller and Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop to help get a green light after being put on hold by the province.

“Twice I have requested for us to get some quotes from a local contractor in the Orillia area to come and give us some quote for the walkway and they won’t let us do that. They’ve put us on hold,” Vernon said. "There is an urgency to get the project done as the survivors are aging and their health is deteriorating."

For more information about Remember Every Name, visit remembereveryname.ca .

Article By Mary Beth Hartill, Reporter Bracebridge Examiner

An open letter - Re: Unmarked Graves at the Kamloops Residential School

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 18:36:16 GMT

This is an open letter to:

Angela White, Executive Director, Indian Residential School Survivors Society
Perry Bellegarde, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations
Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society

When we heard about the children buried in unmarked graves at the Kamloops Residential School, we were very sad but not surprised. We have always believed survivors. The tragic truth is that many more bodies will be found at residential schools and other places of incarceration across Canada. We wanted to tell you how sorry we are but we also hope we might share experiences and work together.

We are survivors too – forced into government-run institutions not because of our race, but because we were judged as inferior, labeled with developmental disabilities. Some had significant disabilities and others had none at all, but were misunderstood because we were born into poverty or broken homes. Admitted as children – even as babies – we were expected to spend the rest of our lives in institutions, where some died quite quickly and others suffered for years.

Instead of going to residential schools, some Indigenous children were sent to these provincial institutions, where they were often denied access to schooling, put to work immediately and treated especially badly. Indigenous institution survivors often lost connection to their communities.

Institution survivors tell about neglect, threats, punishments and abuse that sound very similar to what Indigenous students experienced in residential schools. Children and adults were forced to provide slave labour that saved the government money. All were traumatized by removal from their families and society. Like First Nations people we had to have a class action lawsuit against the government to achieve a very small measure of recognition.

Hearing about unmarked graves of Indigenous children, we think the name of our group reflects a goal we share - to “Remember Every Name”. We gather regularly at the cemetery of the first and largest institution in Canada - Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) located in Orillia, Ontario - to listen to the stories of survivors; to honour the babies, children and adults who died and to comfort each other with rituals, songs and solidarity. We commissioned an artist to create a beautiful memorial monument, which is pictured at www.remembereveryname.ca where you can find out more about us.

We acknowledge that the HRC Cemetery is on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe Peoples and we wish to recognize and respect the long history of First Nations and Metis Peoples in Ontario. From 1903 to 2015, archeologists have reported finding evidence of previous Indigenous villages and cemeteries on the institution grounds.

Our class action required the Ontario government to maintain HRC’s overgrown and neglected cemetery. Although institution staff had already built a monument that says there were “more than 2000 people…whose life journey ended here”, and although their own 2015 archeology report said the number of burials was unknown, the Ontario government now contradicts itself and says only 1379 people were buried. Most graves are unmarked; some are marked with numbered stones and only the most recent have proper markers with names and years of birth and death. The government has not acknowledged that its staff removed hundreds of grave markers, turned them over to hide the numbers and used them as paving stones. When some were found, staff did not return them to their proper places. The government has also denied that they disturbed many graves by digging a sewage pipe through rows of burials to establish a septic system in the cemetery. People who know what happened have kept silent.

We hope we can assist you by sharing our experience with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), in which we were assisted by Jerry Melbye PhD, a distinguished North American Forensic Anthropologist. The government surveyed the whole HRC cemetery but would not release to the survivors GPR images of the sewer pipe and surrounding burials. The Ontario Government refused Dr. Melbye’s pro bono offer to investigate. Further searches beyond the cemetery are needed because survivors have always said that people were buried elsewhere on the grounds. Investigations should be done at 18 similar Ontario institutions and at others like them across Canada.

Our experience reinforces why First Nations must retain absolute control over burial investigations and reparations at residential schools. We have seen how government hid the truth and excluded survivors from access to information and participation in decisions.

Please connect with us so that we can learn from each other’s experiences. We are reaching out in solidarity, to reveal the truth and Remember Every Name.

Sincerely,

Huronia Regional Centre survivors:

Betty Bond, Antoinette Charlebois, Harold Dougall, Beverley Link, Brian Logie, Cindy Scott, Marie Slark, Carrieanne Tompkins

A nd Remember Every Name allies:

Jim and Marilyn Dolmage, Debbie Vernon, Mitchell Wilson

CC.

Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Hon. Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services

Hon. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations

Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario

Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs

Jill Dunlop MPP Simcoe North

Norm Miller MPP Parry Sound- Muskoka

Kathleen Wynne, MPP Don Valley West (Former Premier)

His Worship Steve Clarke, Mayor of Orillia

Tim Lauer, Orillia City Councilor

People First of Canada

People First of Ontario

Inclusion Canada

Community Living Ontario

Community Living Ontario Self-Advocates Council

Family Alliance Ontario

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Kairos Canada

Accessibility of HRC monument a step closer thanks to generous donation

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 18:12:41 GMT

Sister of HRC survivor donates $18K toward $25K fundraising campaign; 'It’s her way of showing love and support for her brother'

Accessibility upgrades at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) survivors’ monument are almost a reality thanks to a substantial donation.

Remember Every Name, a group dedicated to sharing the stories of former residents of the shuttered institution on Memorial Avenue, launched a fundraising campaign in January with the hope of raising $25,000 to allow for the installation of a walkway and two benches at the monument, located at the HRC Cemetery on Memorial Avenue.

The campaign got off to a slow start, but it received a major boost recently. A woman whose brother was a resident at the HRC donated $18,000.

“I was flabbergasted,” said Debbie Vernon, communications co-ordinator with Remember Every Name. “I was just so happy to be receiving this news. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”

Knowing that it came from a family member of a survivor made it even more special.

“She heard her brother’s stories and she understands the history behind the institution. It’s her way of showing love and support for her brother, who had a horrific experience there,” Vernon said, noting the donor is remaining anonymous for now.

Many people have placed blame on family members for sending their loved ones to the HRC, suggesting they dropped them off “and forgot about them,” Vernon said, but added that wasn’t the case.

“Here’s a sister that could not forget and came forward with this contribution that spoke from the heart,” she said.

That donation brings the total amount raised to $23,530.17.

“We just need a few more donations to push this over the top,” Vernon said.

Donations can be made here.

Because the goal has almost been reached, Vernon has written to Infrastructure Ontario to move the process along to the point where quotes can be received for the upgrades.

Steve Sanderson, of Signature Memorials in Orillia, and Gravenhurst artist Hilary Clark Cole have agreed to design and install the two granite benches, Vernon said. Clark Cole designed the monument, which was unveiled in August 2019, with the help of Sanderson.

“It’s critical that the materials and the theme of the memorial also be applied to the benches,” Vernon said.

The following words will be engraved on the backs of the two benches. One will be in Braille.

If These Walls Could Talk

Crows have long memories and remind us we are not alone in caring for this place and the people buried here. They call out and encourage us to speak and demand the truth.

As survivors we call on our communities to listen and learn from our experiences so history will not repeat itself. Butterflies represent the freedom and achievements of survivors’ lives outside the institution. Forget-me-nots signify our commitment to remembering what must never be forgotten.

This monument serves as a testament — to the pain and hope of people who are now free but who can never forget; and to the dream and struggle to end all institutions where people are not free. Hear the chorus of our hearts. Honour every death, remember every name, cherish every life.

Dedicated August 24th, 2019 to all those who survived living at Huronia Regional Centre and to those whose lives ended here. May peace be with them.

Written By: Nathan Taylor, OrilliaMatters.com

Group calls for 'immediate halt' to plans for long term care facility at HRC property

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 19:49:20 GMT

NEWS RELEASE

SENIORS FOR SOCIAL ACTION ONTARIO

_____

Seniors for Social Action Ontario (SSAO) is calling for an immediate halt to any plans to locate a lo ng term care facility on the grounds of the Huronia Regional Centre.

“Our plan is to stop this development by any means necessary. Institutions are completely inappropriate places for anyone to have to live,” said Linda Till, a co-founder of the group.

Huronia Regional Centre has a long and odious history of institutionalizing vulnerable people and subjecting them to dehumanizing and harmful treatment. It is time that all institutions like this were eliminated,” said Kay Wigle, another co-founder of SSAO.

“Institutionalizing anyone in a long term care facility is a violation of their human rights because it excludes them from the rest of society,” said Doug Cartan, another co-founder.

“We stand with Huronia Survivors in their call for the institution to be demolished. A memorial should be erected for the people who suffered and died there instead. It represents one of the darkest periods in Ontario’s history,” he added.

SSAO is shocked that the current government would want to pursue institutionalizing yet another group of people – this time older adults, after a previous Premier had to apologize for the treatment of Huronia survivors when they launched a class action lawsuit against the government because of their ill treatment over decades.

SSAO is in complete support of Huronia Survivors’ position with respect to Huronia. The government needs to finally respect the people who it abandoned to these institutions so many years ago and to the people it now expects to abandon.

One way government could do that is to fully fund in-home and non-profit community-based alternative supports and services to keep people with disabilities and older adults out of institutions.

Source: OrilliaMatters.com

Provincial seniors group weighs in on HRC's future

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 19:43:02 GMT

OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor. This letter, from Seniors For Social Action Ontario is in reference to the article published March 26, titled, 'Former HRC residents want buildings torn down.' Send your letters to dave@orilliamatters.com

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Thanks to OrilliaMatters for shining a light on possible plans to re-purpose the site of Huronia Regional Centre for a long-term care facility.

Should the government proceed with any plans of this nature it will pay a political price. Older adults across this province have made it clear that they do not want to end up in long-term care institutions. They share the concerns of Huronia survivors that this never happen again.

Institutions like Huronia were part of the darkest period of Ontario's history, where people were segregated and excluded from their communities and subject to dehumanizing treatment that caused significant harm and in some cases, death.

We have seen the same scenario play out in long term care institutions during, and for decades before the pandemic. The Deputy Minister of Long Term Care admitted to the COVID-19 Long Term Care Commission that 22,000 people a year - a quarter of the resident population - dies in these facilities every year.

Some die as the flu rages through them, others of preventable causes like serious falls, infected bed sores that cause septicemia, and other forms of substandard care spelled out in inspection reports.

It is well known that the majority of these facilities have not met basic standards set out in Ontario's Long Term Care Homes Act. Several were the subject of a devastating report by the Canadian military.

Institutions like this are no place to house anyone, and Seniors For Social Action Ontario stands with Huronia survivors in calling for an end to them and for funding to be redirected to in-home support, paying family caregivers, having money follow the person to ensure that funding is tied to people's needs not to institutions, and to the creation of small, non-profit community residences for those who cannot be supported at home.

Individuals with dementia are supported far better in their own homes and community residences where they can receive care tied to their specific needs.

Institutions are archaic and belong in the 18th, not the 21st century. It is time Ontario did better by older adults and people with disabilities.

Dr. Patricia Spindel,

Co-Founder, Seniors For Social Action Ontario

References:

See Page 22 - testimony by Richard Steele, Deputy Minister of Long Term Care -

http://www.ltccommission-commissionsld.ca/transcripts/pdf/DM_Angus_DM_Steele_and_CMOH_Dr._Williams_transcript_October_16_2020.pdf

CBC - Pedersen et al - long term care facilities have not met legislated standards -

https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/nursing-homes-abuse-ontario-seniors-laws-1.5770889

HRC survivors 'feeling betrayed' about potential plans for site

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 19:40:27 GMT

OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor. This letter, an open letter to Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop from the Survivors of HRC, is in reference to the article published March 26, titled, 'Former HRC residents want buildings torn down.' Send your letters to dave@orilliamatters.com.

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Shock, dismay and anger are just a few of the reactions from the Huronia Regional Centre survivors, after they learned about your recent comments to OrilliaMatters (in a Jan. 2020 article).

In that article, MPP Jill Dunlop says “the province is working with the city and Infrastructure Ontario” on future plans. It reports that the province has a goal to create 15,000 new long-term-care beds, of which more than 7,000 have been announced so far and you said: “sites like the HRC are great opportunities for housing and long-term care in this area."

(In a subsequent article published March 26, Dunlop said the concerns former residents shared with her will be taken into consideration during any talks about future use of the site).

Survivors are re-traumatized by this news and shocked to learn that you support a plan for elderly and disabled people to once again live at Huronia Regional Centre. They are feeling betrayed especially when they have shared their stories with you describing how HRC is the place that haunts them and where their nightmares live.

After a four-year investigation, the Ontario Ombudsman’s 2016 Nowhere to Turn report called long-term care a “wholly unsuitable… short sighted solution” for people with developmental disabilities. The Ombudsman documented some horrifying examples of the problems this creates and made many strong recommendations for the Ministry of Community and Social Services to prevent this.

However, a 2019 study showed that people with developmental disabilities in Ontario are 17.5 times more likely to end up in long-term institutions intended for the elderly.

Here is what a few of the survivors want you to know:

Cindy Scott

“No way they should move anybody into the HRC. It is ridiculous and awful for the government and the city to consider this. This is not what we wanted having people living there. HRC should be torn down because it brings back bad memories of when we were abused there.”

Harold Dougall

“I want the place torn down. Every time I go by there it gives me cold chills. The government is going behind our backs and we are not involved with discussions about the future use. It makes me mad to hear they want to use it as a nursing home. The government is not listening to us and history is about to repeat itself.”

Bev Link

“There’s too many bad memories there after all we went through and we saw a lot. It was pretty bad and I don’t want people living there. Why don’t you just blow the place up!”

Carrieanne Tomkins

“I am very angry and I don’t wish it to be re- opened where it could be possible for people to be abused like we were. There are too many nightmares. It’s hurting me inside to think elderly people will be living there. We want it torn down. Bad memories remain open for as long as the buildings are there as a reminder of when I was in there, where we all suffered and people died. The government wants to keep the nightmare going making it harder for us to mend.”

Betty Ann Bond

“This is totally unacceptable! People who were admitted to HRC when they were children will end up back there as they age. This is not good news at all!

No one is listening to survivors or learning from the mistakes from the past! What happened or hasn't happened we are not involved nor have had any say of what we want to happen to that place. I don't care that the government paid $5 million on the roof! That was a give away that something was going to take place there. We are not stupid!

You said at the unveiling of the Memorial this should never happen again but it is and I hope you can live with yourself. The government is all about the money and buildings sitting empty. Do the right thing and tear it down!

If they can destroy the Jeffrey Dahmer home where murders took place in and Russell Williams home in Tweed, then why in the hell can't they destroy HRC where people were abused and murdered?

Tear it down completely then do what you want but do not use any part of any building including the OPP should remain. Give respect to us. Don't belittle us as we have suffered long and hard! We are trying to rebuild our lives in the communities that care.”

Marie Slark- Lead Plaintiff in the HRC class action lawsuit

“If you’re going to open HRC again, take the old buildings down first. There are too many bad memories and by leaving them standing there’s more harm than good being done. Use it for recreational purposes and build a resort and marina for a tourist area. Build something new so it will take away bad memories so we can get on with our lives.”

On March 30, 2017 Infrastructure Ontario hosted a Public Meeting at the Orillia City Hall to hear feedback and ideas about the unused land at the HRC which survivors presented their statements. A report was prepared for Infrastructure Ontario.

That report recommended;

The land use should be respectful and honour the people who experienced the Huronia Regional Centre and all of Ontario’s institutions; it should recognize the mistakes of the past.

If there is any profit to be made from the land, former residents and victims of abuse and neglect should be the ones who benefit.

Former residents and advocates have expressed a desire that the buildings of the former Huronia Regional Centre should be demolished and replaced with a memorial for those who lost their lives there. The presence of the buildings acts as a reminder to former residents of the suffering they endured.

There is concern that the buildings on the HRC lands are in a state of disrepair, posing health and safety concerns for users (e.g. structurally unsound, mould exposure).

Former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre believe that they should have the strongest voice in how the land should be used. They must be engaged in a way that is meaningful. Former residents currently feel that their voices are not being heard.

Suggestion that a panel of former residents make recommendations on suggested land uses based on the engagement process, to ensure the voices of former residents are heard.

At that time, survivors and allies objected strongly to the Huronia Cultural Campus group's plans to take over the HRC property. Survivors are even more opposed to any plan to re-institutionalize people at HRC.

On August 24, 2019 you attended a dedication ceremony organized by HRC survivors and their allies in Remember Every Name, where the survivors’ memorial monument was unveiled at the HRC Cemetery.

You said “We cannot begin to understand the effect of these buildings have had on those who have spent time here. This dedication ceremony is a reminder to recognize those who carry the life experience of the horrors that took place and to celebrate the courage as they move forward.

"We acknowledge the atrocities’ they faced in reflecting on the past and the injustices it held. We are reminded of the progress of our community, our province and our society as a whole. It is truly a privilege to speak before you today as for many years your voices were silenced. It is our responsibility of those for compassion and hindsight to support survivors in reclaiming their dignity. Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on this history as we commit to a brighter future together.”

Now survivors and allies question both your commitment and your integrity. Your words and your government’s secret plans fail to acknowledge the atrocities, lack compassion and undermine dignity.

Institutionalizing people again at HRC certainly is not a “brighter future,” and we ask that such plans be stopped immediately. The voices of survivors can no longer be silenced.

- Debbie Vernon

Remember Every Name, Communication Coordinator

Putting long term care facility at HRC 'egregious' idea

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 19:45:47 GMT

OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor. This letter is in response to the article published March 26, titled, 'Former HRC residents want the buildings torn down'. Send your letter to dave@orilliamatters.com

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This recent article expressing the concerns of people who once lived in Huronia Regional Centre brought forward a distressing concern. The suggestion that the buildings on this site be used as a long term care (LTC) facility are egregious in the extreme.

Institutionalization of any human being is completely unconscionable and this applies equally to people who require care because of aging or disability needs.

The lesson that should have been learned about this facility apparently needs to be repeated in the strongest possible way. Institutions harm people by their very nature.

They deprive people of the normal living experiences we all value, such as small homes in vibrant communities, the dignity of personal privacy and space, the vital element of natural and unhindered connections with those we love, the sights and sounds of the natural rhythms of daily life, the freedom to come and go when and where we wish.

To have care needs of any sort, for any reason, does not eliminate the importance of retaining those opportunities and experiences in our lives.

We absolutely must refrain from using the Huronia buildings as another institution into which people will be placed in the name of providing them care.

I strongly suspect that none of the people calling for this site to be redeveloped into a LTC facility would themselves want to live there. Research has repeatedly shown that as people age or develop care needs for any other reason, they want to live in their own homes or in small shared homes in their own communities.

Nobody needs an institution in order to have their needs responded to. It’s long past time we listen to the people who have direct and intimate knowledge about this.

They weren’t listened to before ... let’s listen now.

Linda Till

Sharon, Ontario

Former HRC residents 'want the buildings torn down'

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 19:34:13 GMT

When Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop mentioned the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) and long-term care in the same breath, it set off alarm bells for former residents of the s huttered institution.

They were reacting to an OrilliaMatters article from January 2020 that included Dunlop’s comments about the Memorial Avenue property.

After noting the province had a goal to create 15,000 new long-term care beds, she said, “sites like the HRC are great opportunities for housing and long-term care in this area.”

Marilyn Dolmage, who was a litigation guardian for a former HRC resident in a class-action lawsuit against the province, said if a long-term care facility is built on the site, “chances are some of (the former residents) will end up there.”

The thought of possibly having to go back to the property where many faced abuse is “their worst nightmare,” Dolmage said.

“They want to make sure the buildings aren’t used again and that no one with a disability has to use them again,” she said. “They want the buildings torn down. They don’t sleep because the buildings are still there. It’s very visceral to them.”

Dunlop subsequently met with some HRC survivors to hear their thoughts, and the idea of a long-term care facility coming to the site “was a concern that was brought forward,” she said.

“I completely understand their concern because there is fear of going back to institutions like the HRC,” Dunlop said. “What those people in our community went through at the time was horrific.”

Infrastructure Ontario manages the property on behalf of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Relations. Dunlop said she contacted Minister Lisa Thompson to let her know the site is “very important to our community” and was told she would receive a briefing to update her on the latest information about the property.

Dunlop said the concerns former residents shared with her will be taken into consideration during any talks about future use of the site.

“It’s important that we have those conversations moving forward,” she said.

Dolmage said former residents were also concerned about comments made to OrilliaMatters after an electrical fire broke out in one of the buildings in October 2020.

At the time, Fire Chief Brent Thomas said renovations were “scheduled to start in the building soon.”

This week, Infrastructure Ontario spokesperson Jeff Giffen told OrilliaMatters, “The facility where the fire occurred was vacant at the time, remains vacant and there are no plans for renovations or re-occupation at this time.”

He noted some of the property and buildings are currently used for “ministry programs” as well as a public health lab operated by the Ministry of Health. The Ontario Provincial Police also ha s a presence on the site for training. The Ontario Court of Justice is located there, too.

As for the property’s future, Giffen said Infrastructure Ontario “has completed considerable due diligence to consider opportunities to maximize use of the property and this effort is continuing.”

“No decisions have been made regarding the property’s future and it has never been listed for public sale,” he said.

By: Nathan Taylor, OrilliaMatters.com

Bracebridge woman vies for funds to honour abuse victims at Huronia Regional Centre

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 14:17:23 GMT

Bracebridge’s Debbie Vernon doesn’t want anyone to forget about the men, women and children — predominantly those with disabilities — who lived in deplorable conditions at the Huronia Regional Centre.

She also wants everyone who wishes to visit the monument at the centre’s cemetery to be able to do so. She had hoped the City of Orillia would help with funding for an accessible walkway and two granite benches matching the monument that features the work of Muskoka artist Hilary Clark Cole.

“It's really important that survivors have the ability to go up and touch the monument, because it represents who they are and the trauma that they went through when they lived at the Huronia Regional Centre. Most survivors now are our elderly,” said Vernon.

Orillia council adopted a motion on Nov. 9 to fund improvements, but the request was denied as part of the 2021 budget, as confirmed by a member of city staff, who added that council set a mandate for, and adopted, a zero per cent tax increase for 2021.

“Needless to say, to the survivors, it was a disappointment to them all,” said Vernon.

Vernon set about establishing the Help Make the HRC Survivors Memorial Accessible GoFundMe page and is working with Bracebridge United Church to hold the monies raised. It is a lofty goal. She and the Remember Every Name Committee are trying to raise $25,000. Thus far, the campaign has garnered only $2,500.

What eventually became the Huronia Regional Centre had several identities since its inception as an asylum in 1861; it was known as The Ontario Hospital and the Ontario Hospital School, among other names.

By 1968, the institution housed nearly 3,000 people. It became the Huronia Regional Centre in 1974; at the same time as the community living movement grew, resident numbers were declining and staff numbers rising — attitudes were changing, according to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

“Society slowly began to accept that people with a developmental disability didn’t need to be secluded in an institution; they needed to be included in a community,” states the ministry's website. “A new era where people of all abilities could contribute and participate in Ontario communities had begun.”

The institution was closed in 2009. In 2013, then-premier Kathleen Wynne acknowledged those that suffered “neglect and abuse” in the hands of institutions such as this with a $35-million settlement and official apology.

According to Vernon, there were different levels of claims — the minimum was $2,000 per claimant, up to $42,000 if it involved sexual abuse or a severe injury.

“Over a period of generations, and under various governments, too many of these men, women, children and their families were deeply harmed and continue to bear the scars and the consequences of this time,” said Wynne. “Their humanity was undermined; they were separated from their families and robbed of their potential, their comfort, safety and their dignity.”

“People were left in huge wards, locked up,” said Vernon. “Sometimes without clothes or any kind of personal possessions. They were just all locked up together as a big group and the only time they were let out was to go down to the dining room for meals.”

Vernon’s friends, Betty Ann Bond, Bev Link and Cindy Scott, are survivors who teamed up to become the organizing committee for the monument and cemetery improvements. Vernon’s sister could have been beside her friends at the institution had her parents not resisted a doctor’s recommendation. Instead, they formed an alliance of like-minded parents who founded a parent’s association, which later became Community Living South Muskoka.

To learn more, visit remembereveryname.ca .

Article By: Mary Beth Hartill, Bracebridge Examiner

Former resident, advocate happy Manitoba facility for people with disabilities closing

Sun, 31 Jan 2021 16:02:05 GMT

133 residents at Portage la Prairie's Manitoba Developmental Centre will move to community living over 3 years

A former resident of a Manitoba institution for people with intellectual disabilities is glad it's closing after more than century, after he says he suffered serious abuse there.

"I feel happy," said David Weremy, who lived at the Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie, Man. for 18 years.

On Friday, the province announced the facility will close after its remaining 133 residents move to community living over the next three years.

After more than a century, Manitoba facility for people with disabilities closing its doors

Weremy says he experienced years of trauma at the facility after he started living there in 1958, which included sexual abuse, physical assault and being confined naked in a room.

"Bad things happened every day and every night," he said.

Weremy is the representative plaintiff in a $50-million lawsuit against the province, which was filed in October in 2018.

The suit was certified as a class-action last May. The province appealed that certification last October. A decision on the appeal is pending.

When the lawsuit was filed, the province said it could not comment on its contents because it was before the courts.

For the last number of years, Weremy has happily lived independently.

"Living at home is better," he said. "I can go anywhere I want — go out somewhere, go to the casino."

He's dedicated much of his life to work with People First of Canada on a task force to help eradicate institutions where people with intellectual disabilities are segregated. He wants to ensure people can live in community and exercise control over their own lives.

Of the 133 current residents, Weremy says, "I hope they all find homes quick."

Institutionalized people treated as 'second-class citizens'

Janet Forbes, the executive director of Inclusion Winnipeg says she's "thrilled" to hear the facility was closing after having advocated for its closure for nearly three decades.

"It was a long time coming that we had been hoping we would get that announcement," she said.

"People have the right to live in the community and the institutional care is a very old model that never worked for people," she said,

"It congregated them, it segregated them — they basically were living as second class citizens."

Forbes says i t might be a bit of a challenge to transition those who are still living at the MDC because their families might think it's the best place for them.

However, Inclusion Winnipeg — which works to support people with intellectual disabilities as well as their families — has met with families who have supported their loved ones as they moved from MDC into the community.

"Typically, once the person has moved, they're very happy about their family member being in the community and being in a place that they enjoy because they can see the happiness that their family member is experiencing," she said.

"It doesn't matter how long somebody has been there. With good, thoughtful planning, they can have lives in the community where they really thrive."

Source: Rachel Bergen · CBC News

After more than a century, Manitoba facility for people with disabilities closing its doors

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 16:12:53 GMT

133 residents at Portage la Prairie's Manitoba Developmental Centre will move to community living over 3 years

A more than century-old Manitoba facility for adults with intellectual disabilities will close after its remaining 133 residents move to community living over the next three years, the province announced on Friday.

While discussions have been underway to transition residents out of the Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie for years, Families Minister Rochelle Squires said the COVID-19 pandemic was the last straw that showed how crucial that step was.

"COVID has certainly confirmed that this institutional way of living poses additional risks," Squires said on a phone-in news conference. "Community living is not only more dignified but it is safer for our residents."

A COVID-19 outbreak was declared at the facility at the end of November and was declared over earlier this month. Two staff contracted the illness and have since recovered, a provincial spokesperson said.

People living in the facility will eventually be moved to places like group homes run by licensed agencies and home-share living situations, where a person with a disability shares a home with a licensed support provider, Squires said.

Those with more complex medical or behavioural issues may also transition to purpose-built homes where they can get the extra support they need, she said.

Janet Forbes, executive director of Inclusion Winnipeg, said the facility's closure is "the first step in abolishing institutional care."

"As a society, we must guarantee future generations of people with intellectual disabilities, and their families, that we will never create institutions again," Forbes said in a news release put out by the province.

Class-action lawsuit

The site was known as the Home for Incurables when it opened in 1890 and was later called the Manitoba School, among other names. It was officially renamed the Manitoba Developmental Centre in the 1980s.

The number of people living there has shrunk significantly since the 1960s and 1970s, when around 1,200 people lived at the centre. Those numbers began to rapidly decline in the 1980s following Manitoba's Welcome Home initiative, which worked to help people with disabilities integrate into the larger community.

Today, the sprawling property in the north end of the Manitoba city, about 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg, includes several multi-storey brick buildings, basketball hoops and outdoor picnic areas.

A lawsuit launched against the province in 2018 by people who had lived at the institution alleged they suffered sexual and physical abuse for decades. The province called for the suit to be dismissed.

The suit was certified as a class-action last May . The province appealed that certification last October. A decision on the appeal is pending.

Until new homes for MDC's residents are identified by the province's Department of Families and other groups it works with, people living in the facility will stay there, Squires said. She said staff are looking at each person's situation and helping to make the best decision for each individual.

No immediate staff changes

For the 370 people working at the Manitoba Developmental Centre, including about 280 full-time employees, there won't be any immediate changes, Squires said.

Staff at the facility include psychiatric nurse assistants, nurses, activity instructors, housekeepers, dietary aides and engineers, she said. Squires said there won't be layoffs coming down the line, and anyone who wants to stay working in government will be accommodated.

"As long as there are residents living at [the Manitoba Developmental Centre], their work will be needed," Squires said.

Danielle Adams, the Opposition NDP critic for persons with disabilities, said the province needs to make sure that residents have adequate supports when they move into the community, and that staff can access jobs of an equal quality and still be close to home.

"This facility provides good jobs to hundreds of Manitobans in Portage la Prairie and the surrounding region," the Thompson MLA said in a news release. "These workers and their families deserve better than empty promises."

Woman's death at Manitoba institution subject of inquest

Squires said plans for what will happen to the site once all its residents leave are still being worked out, and the province is mindful that for now it is still people's home.

She also gave an overview of that transition plan to people involved in the area, the province's news release said, including Portage la Prairie Mayor Irvine Ferris.

Ferris said the city has been working with the province for years on the future of the facility and understands the need for the change.

"We look forward to continuing this working relationship as we find valuable alternative uses for the property that will create a meaningful economic impact and ensure Portage la Prairie voices are heard," he said in the province's news release.

Article from CBC News

Group launches fundraising campaign to make HRC monument accessible

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 15:30:07 GMT

A fundraising campaign is underway to enhance accessibility around the survivors’ monument at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) Cemetery.

Remember Every Name, a group that works to share the stories of former residents of the shuttered institution on Memorial Avenue, has launched a GoFundMe campaign after Orillia city council turned down its request for $25,000.

That’s the fundraising goal for the campaign. It would allow for the addition of a walkway from the cemetery to the monument, as well as two granite benches similar in style to the monument. Etched on the back of one bench would be a description of the meaning behind the monument. That description would appear in Braille on the back of the other bench.

Many of the HRC survivors are seniors, or are approaching their senior years, and have mobility issues that prevent them from seeing the monument up close, said Debbie Vernon, of Remember Every Name.

“There are words and etchings on the monument that have a lot of meaning,” she said. “It helps them with their healing.”

When the monument was unveiled in August 2019, “it became very clear that day that we needed to do more to make it accessible,” she added.

Council members initially approved the funding request during operating budget discussions.

“We were celebrating. We were so happy that the city was willing to come forward,” Vernon said.

However, that decision was reversed a couple of weeks later, when council met to ratify the budget. It took Vernon by surprise.

“We read in OrilliaMatters that council voted against it. It was a letdown,” she said.

So, the GoFundMe campaign was launched, but “it’s been really slow going so far,” she said.

As of Friday afternoon, $1,520 had been raised — most of which came from Stan Oag and Robyn Rennie.

Oag wanted to see the monument for the first time and take photos of it, so he headed there with his granddaughter.

“I was really moved when I was there. It really got to me and made it a bit more real,” he said.

He researched it, and the story behind it, when he got home. That’s when he learned of the fundraising campaign.

When he and Rennie donate to causes, they usually do so anonymously, but when they saw only a few hundred dollars had been raised, they contributed $1,000, with Oag’s name visible.

“We thought if we put a big donation in, maybe it will spur others to do something,” he said. “It’s really important. I just can’t imagine having suffered through that. They suffered and then were not believed. We can’t undo the damage that’s been done, but, surely, we can do something to make it better, even in a small way.”

The fact many of those who suffered at the HRC can’t get close enough to the monument to read what’s on it is “grossly unfair,” Oag added.

Rennie, his wife, knows the importance of accessibility. She began suffering severe vision loss in 2005.

“I get left out a lot, but I can’t imagine what these people have been through,” she said. “They can’t even get to (the monument). It really bothers me a lot.”

Adding a walkway and a couple of benches, she said, “seems like a pretty simple fix.”

“It should be a given.”

Vernon is grateful for the couple’s donation and she hopes others will chip in, too. She encourages people to visit the Remember Every Name website to learn more about the former HRC residents, and to visit the monument.

“It’s a learning and a healing process for people who live in Orillia and surrounding areas. A lot of people don’t know about what went on behind the doors of the Huronia Regional Centre,” she said, adding it would be meaningful for former residents to know the community is supporting the project. “It will be a huge lift for them to know that people are contributing to this.”

More information about Remember Every Name can also be found on its Facebook page.

By: Nathan Taylor, OrilliaMatters.com

Overlooked residents feel impact of crisis in LTC homes

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 15:05:15 GMT

Advocates say better housing options are needed for adults with developmental delays

As the pandemic continues to kill elderly long- term- care residents, the virus is harming another vulnerable but overlooked group inside the same homes.

Thousands of people with developmental delays or serious mental health conditions live in Ontario nursing homes, many arriving under the age of 65 because there was nowhere else to go.

As of Nov. 30, 382 of the estimated 3,500 younger residents were infected with COVID- 19, said the Ministry of Long- Term Care.

Forty- one died, the ministry said. Thirty of those who succumbed to the virus had a mental health condition such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and 11 had a developmental delay, such as Down syndrome.

It’s no secret that deep flaws in the nursing home system enabled COVID’s surge, killing more than 2,300 fragile Ontario seniors.

Ignored in demands for sweeping change is the fact that younger residents have been placed in long- term care instead of supported community housing where they could work, volunteer or spend time with people of all ages and abilities.

With COVID once again advancing on nursing homes, advocates say it has never been more urgent to get people with disabilities back into the community.

“We’ve made them more vulnerable than they ever would have been by placing them in those homes,” said Chris Beesley, CEO of Community Living Ontario, which represents associations that support people with intellectual delays.

“I’m not saying that living in your own apartment or home is going to guarantee you a better level of care,” Beesley said, “but we know from within our sector that, by virtue of the fact that you group hundreds of people together, good things are likely not to happen. In fact, the odds are hugely stacked against you.”

Like many provinces, Ontario has a history of institutionalizing people with intellectual delays or mental health conditions in large facilities dating back to the 1800s.

In the 1960s and ’ 70s, the push to close psychiatric institutions left many former residents struggling, some ending up on the street or in jail because there wasn’t enough subsidized housing or help from community groups.

Ontario’s last institution for people with intellectual delays closed in 2009.

Once called the “Orillia Asylum for Idiots,” the Huronia Regional Centre was chronically underfunded and rife with abuse and neglect.

Its closure led to a class- action lawsuit ( followed by additional lawsuits against the province for facilities that had already been closed) and a 2013 apology from Premier Kathleen Wynne. After more than 100 years of institutionalizing people with intellectual delays, Ontario promised supports for community living and inclusion.

Those promises didn’t last, said advocate Doug Cartan.

Supported by community living associations focused on promoting independence, many people stay in an apartment or with a family. Others may receive home care.

Some associations own housing for people with developmental delays. But the wait lists are usually long. Some are sent to nursing homes.

In Ontario, most long- term- care residents are well into their 80s with significant health problems, including cognitive decline.

Malaya ( May) Ignacio arrived at the age of 58. Now 65, Ignacio is developmentally delayed. She tested positive for the virus when her Ajax home, Chartwell Ballycliffe Long Term Care, had an outbreak last spring. Thirty- two people died.

“May got COVID in the early stage of the lockdown,” said her sister, Elsa Gamelo. “I was terrified, for many at her home had already died.

“As for May, she does not seem affected emotionally for she does not understand the situation,” Gamelo said.

“She was wondering why I cannot go inside. I only saw her from the parking lot to her third- floor room. When I got to see her in person the first time, she was so excited and you could see how much she missed me.”

Gamelo said her sister’s case was mild, with just a runny nose, and she recovered quickly. Ballycliffe is no longer in outbreak.

Chartwell said Ballycliffe is an old home that, at the time, had three or four residents per ward room.

“It went into outbreak early in the onset of the declared pandemic and well before the world had developed any understanding of the behaviour of this virus, in particular, the asymptomatic nature of the transmission of the virus,” said Chartwell spokesperson Sharon Ranalli.

Chartwell supports younger residents through an all- ages program that focuses on residents’ individual “hobbies, activities, education, employment and preferences, current and past, so that we can explore their full potential while living with us,” Ranalli said.

Wayne Aris has a developmental delay, and at the age of 44 he moved into privately owned Downsview Long Term Care and a few years later, a City of Toronto nursing home, spending six years in the homes.

His sister, Wendy Francis, is grateful she moved him out of Toronto’s Seven Oaks Long Term Care months before COVID19 swept through, killing 41 residents.

Francis brought him home because older residents were aggressive toward her brother, she said.

“Staff don’t have the training for all the people who walk through their doors,” said Francis, who is chair of Family Councils Collaborative Alliance, a new support group for families with loved ones in long- term care.

Aris is 51 now and since August 2019 has lived with Francis in her Queen Street West home. He stays busy with virtual programs for people with intellectual delays. “I can hear him singing, in the other room,” she said.

Paul Raftis, general manager of seniors services and longterm care at the City of Toronto, said staff in the 10 city- run homes are trained to calm and emotionally connect with residents in their care.

Raftis said city homes work with local groups like Reena or Community Living Toronto, along with the ministry’s Behaviour Supports Ontario to create care plans that “best suit residents with special needs and/ or challenging behaviours.”

Long- term- care homes are “not exclusively medical and nursing care institutions; they are social organizations where people who need care can live their lives to the fullest,” he said.

“Younger individuals may live many years in a ( long- term- care) home,” he said. “Feeling ‘ at home’ requires a sense of community, which is created from the collective involvement of everyone in the long- term- care home — residents and families, staff, volunteers and community members, who all contribute to the community of care.”

In Toronto’s city- operated homes, Raftis said there are 16 residents, most in their 50s and 60s, who have a developmental delay, such as Down syndrome, autism or epilepsy. None has tested positive for COVID, Raftis said.

Of the 112 residents age 65 and under with a mental health condition, 11 have tested positive for COVID but none has died, he said.

In an email, Raftis said his office “cannot offer evidence that these residents ( with a mental health condition) should be cared for in a different setting or health- care system.”

Of Ontario’s 1,032 nursing home residents with intellectual delays under the age of 65, more than half ( 550) are between the ages of 40 and 59, the Long- Term Care Ministry said. Another 72 are between 30 and 39. Eleven are younger than 29.

For advocates who spent decades fighting the abuse of people with developmental delays in large, crowded institutions, the reliance on nursing homes is an outrage.

But for some families, especially those in crisis with aging or dying parents who lived with their vulnerable child, longterm care is sometimes the only option.

“Because of lack of supports and attendant care services, in some cases persons with disabilities who would prefer to live in the community currently have to live in long- term- care homes,” said Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of national seniors advocacy group CanAge.

“This makes for an unsatisfactory lifestyle for many,” she said. “This isn’t about ageism — but if 90 per cent of your neighbours have dementia and almost all your neighbours are well into their 80s or 90s, this is not the open, diverse and engaging environment best suited for a younger person looking to be active and connected.”

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services ( MCCSS) provides the funding for people with developmental delays.

The MCCSS told the Star it spent $ 2.68 billion in 2019- 20 on developmental services, including $ 1.68 billion on “residential services and supports” for roughly 19,300 individuals with a developmental delay.

The ministry said it provided funding for 235 non- profit agencies that help individuals live in a range of housing options including an apartment with a spouse; a family home; a group home of three or more people; or a specialized home for those with “persistent highrisk behaviours.”

The Ministry of Health funds programs for people with mental health conditions and addictions, including roughly 14,200 “supportive housing” units in the community. These units include privately owned apartments, buildings dedicated to some supportive care or shared settings with communal dining rooms or washrooms. In 202021, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing budgeted $ 63 million for housing directed at several groups in need, including those with mental health conditions and addictions.

The Health Ministry said it is investing $ 3.8 billion over 10 years to support those with mental health and addiction challenges. It says this will help alleviate pressures in acutecare settings, “enabling patients to transition into the community with appropriate housing and supports.”

Exposure to COVID in longterm care is the final insult, say advocates, including Cartan, who spent decades working with people who have intellectual delays.

On Nov. 18, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal livestreamed a case argued by the Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia that noted COVID and discrimination.

Arguing against a decision by a board of inquiry of Nova Scotia’s human rights commission, lawyer Claire McNeil said people with disabilities face “segregation” by being placed in large facilities like nursing homes.

In Ontario, Cartan said he and others spent years trying to get the provincial government to close facilities like Huronia Regional Centre.

“Now we see that it is just reverting to the old institutional model that we had ceased,” Cartan said. “It’s such a tragic outcome. People had to choose this option ( nursing homes) because there was nothing built for them in the community.”

With the second wave of the pandemic continuing its devastation of some nursing homes, infection control is the current focus of long- term care.

Homes are creating extra space by moving some residents out of long- term care, so those who are ill can be isolated. There will no longer be new admissions to ward rooms with three to four people, said Lisa Levin, CEO of Advantage Ontario.

Cartan said those plans to create space offer the opportunity to remove younger residents and find homes for them in their local community.

The Long- Term Care Ministry’s numbers for younger people with developmental delays in nursing homes come from the Continuing Care Reporting System, operated by the Canadian Institute of Health Information ( CIHI), an independent organization. Its definition for a developmental delay includes Down syndrome; autism; cerebral palsy; or a developmental disability related to congenital rubella, congenital syphilis, maternal intoxication or a mechanical injury at birth.

Criticism over the reliance on nursing homes as housing isn’t new.

“It’s such a tragic outcome. People had to choose this option ( nursing homes) because there was nothing built for them in the community.” DOUG CARTAN ADVOCATE

In 2017, the Ontario ombudsman’s office released a report denouncing the use of longterm care for younger people.

“We received 14 complaints about adults with developmental disabilities — some quite young — who were left with nowhere to live but long- termcare homes,” the report said.

The ombudsman’s report recommended the Social Services Ministry work with local agencies to ensure that long- term care is a “last resort and that alternative solutions are vigorously pursued.”

As executive director of Hamilton’s Rygiel Supports for Community Living and the sister of a woman with Down syndrome, Donna Marcaccio has seen all sides of the housing struggle.

Marcaccio lives with her sister, who spent 30 years working for the local school board. As her abilities decreased in her 50s, Marcaccio said staff at the Local Health Integration Network pressured her to send her sister into long- term care.

Marcaccio refused. Her sister gets help from home care, although Marcaccio said it’s very difficult to have different workers arriving at her home, often not respecting personal space.

“To have somebody different every day drives you crazy. It’s very intrusive to have people in our home,” she said.

The decision to choose longterm care is usually complicated, she said.

Parents may have cared for a child with intellectual delays at home for decades, she said. An elderly father dies. The mother grows frail. She moves into a nursing home, bringing her adult child with her. Or, families panic and choose a nursing home because it seems like the most reliable option.

There’s a new problem too, Marcaccio said. She believes some professionals recommend nursing homes because they are too young to remember the emotional, decadeslong fight against large facilities.

“They’re forgetting the history of institutionalization,” she said. “That is an issue in our sector now. Succession happens. People move on, and history gets forgotten.”

Often, it comes down to the simple fact that there’s “no room at the inn.” No spaces left in community housing.

Leaders at Community Living Toronto are part of a group that is pushing the provincial and federal governments to dedicate national housing strategy money for people with intellectual disabilities.

Some government money could pay for rent subsidies, said James Janeiro, the association’s director of community engagement and policy. Or, a percentage of units in a new development could be set aside for people with developmental delays.

Community Living Toronto’s CEO, Brad Saunders, said none of his young clients who are able to live independently are residents in long- term care.

For Malaya Ignacio, the first months in Ballycliffe were a struggle, said her sister, Elsa Gamelo.

Staff, she said, did not understand the needs of a person with a developmental delay who could not communicate her feelings. “They are more trained to deal with Alzheimer’s and dementia,” Gamelo said. “Geriatric illnesses, not something like my sister has with developmental behaviour.”

Changes in management helped, she said, and Gamelo now believes the home was the right decision for her sister. Ignacio prefers the company of quieter, older people, she said.

“I’m happy now,” Gamelo said, “especially when my sister expresses her feelings that she is happy. Before COVID, when I could bring her to my home for a visit, she always asked to go back to the nursing home.”

These days, Gamelo can’t stop thinking about the impact of the virus on all nursing homes.

“I’m afraid that outbreaks in homes that are short- staffed and have overworked staff ( mean) they may have uncontrollable spreading,” she said.

“What I’m most worried about is not being able to be with my sister in person, on Christmas.”

Source: Toronto Star, MOIRA WELSH

Open Letter to the Editor of Orillia Matters

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 14:47:52 GMT

December 10, 2020

We regret that Orillia City Council has decided not to provide funding for an accessible sidewalk, benches and sodding around the Survivor’s Memoria l Monument in the Huronia Regional Centre cemetery, overturning its own budget committee’s recommendation.

We are sure there are many people in Orillia who – like Councillors Tim Lauer, David Campbell and Jay Fallis - would support this request from institution survivors.

We are sure even more people in Orillia would support the need to make the Monument accessible.

HRC’s history is tied to Orillia’s, ever since municipal leaders campaigned to have the institution located here. For 150 years, HRC has benefited Orillia economically. It provided the salaries of thousands of staff and the pensions of retirees - to support city businesses, municipal government and community life.

It was 7 years ago this week, when leaders of all Ontario political parties apologized for the suffering we now know people endured at HRC, and committed not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The HRC Cemetery monument was commissioned by survivors and paid for through their class action settlement fund. Please read about the work of “Remember Every Name” – dedicated to honouring those who died at HRC and those who survived – at www.remembereveryname.ca

We encourage everyone to visit the cemetery to see the Monument – before forming an opinion about this. Please read the inscribed words of survivors. Take in the message they communicate through Hilary Clark Cole welded steel tree, bursting into life and freedom through Signature Memorials’ high, black granite walls. The empty institution buildings are reflected on one side; crows take flight and flowers bloom, on the other.

Unfortunately, there was insufficient funding to complete the work. Now that the City of Orillia has denied help, we hope interested citizens might support us. Donations can be made to the Bracebridge United Church, to “Remember Every Name”. To enquire further please contact Debbie Vernon at vernon@muskoka.com or by phone 705-645-0298.

Councillors 'disappointed' after colleagues vote against HRC monument funding

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 19:56:55 GMT

City council has reversed its plan to provide funding to help make the Huronia Regional Centre survivors monument more accessible.

A motion to approve $25,000 for the project was passed during operating budget talks two weeks ago, but during the budget ratification meeting Monday, council changed course.

Councillors David Campbell, Jay Fallis and Tim Lauer were the only ones who voted in favour of the funding, which could have gone toward a walkway from the cemetery to the monument, a plaque, benches and sodding.

Lauer was visibly upset when the motion was defeated Monday.

“Man, when I think of some of the money we spend, I just don’t get this one,” he said.

Fallis, too, was “disappointed” with the decision.

“That was a really meaningful investment from the city,” he said. “I really hope this comes back up in future budget discussions. For a lot of people, that monument is very meaningful.”

Lauer told OrilliaMatters he was “surprised but also disappointed” at the outcome.

“It’s an accessibility issue,” he said, addi ng that’s why it should have been treated as a priority. “We have hundreds of items before us and a lot of them could be put off. It just struck me as odd that this one was the target for those who thought it would be a great savings.”

Staff did not recommend council approve the funding because the property on which the monument sits is not owned or maintained by the city.

By: Nathan Taylor, OrilliaMatters.com

City earmarks $25,000 to improve accessibility at HRC monument

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 19:51:12 GMT

Municipal politicians have agreed to spend $25,000 to help improve accessibility to the Survivors Memorial Monument that was unveiled in the summer of 2019 at the Huroni a Regional Centre.

The decision was made by budget committee during this week’s budget deliberations. Over two days, the committee - comprised of Mayor Steve Clarke and city councillors - passed the $62.4-million operating budget. The decisions are subject to ratification at a special Dec. 7 meeting of council.

Councillors Tim Lauer and David Campbell, who were among the municipal politicians at the moneumnet’s unveiling, championed the spending, which was not recommended by city staff, because the property is not owned or maintained by the city.

The request for funding came from Debbie Vernon, the communications coordinator for Remember Every Name, the group that is working to identify and mark gravesites at the cemetery.

She wrote a letter to city council in February seeking funding for amenities that would open up the monument to more people.

“Survivors hope to have a walkway installed leading from the cemetery and around the monument to be accessible to all people and seating for those who visit,” Vernon wrote in her letter to council.

She said the funding could help with a walkway, plaque, benches and sodding around the monument.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” said Lauer. “They’ve done a beautiful job out there on a very significant memorial to the people that were part of that institution.”

He noted the province has contributed funding. “That facility has been a part of our history and I think it’s incumbent on us to participate in this.”

Campbell agreed.

“I remind my fellow councillors that the HRC provided good paying jobs and continues to provide pensions to people in our community that contribute to our economy, so the city has benefited financially from the institution being here for all those years,” said Campbell.

He said the funding would “allow those people and their families the opportunity to access that site that they're not currently able to because of the lack of sidewalks.”

Both stressed it’s a one-time expense.

Councillors Mason Ainsworth, Pat Hehn and Ted Emond suggested deferring the spending for a year, noting the goal was to freeze taxes. That means money for a project like this would come out of the tax rate stabilization reserve.

“I think this is a phenomenal project, but I think the timing is a bit of an issue for me,” said Ainsworth. “I don’t see it as an immediate need in the community.”

He said $25,000 is “a considerable amount of money,” and added he would support the expenditure in the future when worried about COVID impacts are in the rear-view mirror.

“I certainly see the purpose, but I think in light of everything else, delaying it for a year would be preferable,” said Hehn, who once worked as a summer student at the long-shuttered provincial facility on Memorial Avenue.

Lauer stressed the funding would not impact taxes, but would come out of a reserve account - whether it was approved this year or in the future.

“Those reserves are certainly healthy enough to accommodate this,” said Lauer, saying there is no real benefit of delaying it.

In the end, a majority of council agreed.

Based on decisions this week, the city will take about $628,000 from its tax rate stabilization reserve in order to ensure there’s no tax hike this year.

On Monday and Tuesday, the capital budget will be deliberated.

By: Dave Dawson, OrilliaMatters.com

Paul's Story

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 16:18:01 GMT

Written by the late Paul Nichol in his words

I was born in Mississauga in 1941. I didn’t know my mother very well because I was taken away from her when I was two months old by the Children’s Aid Society. She was told she shouldn’t have four children, that she couldn’t look after us all on her own so I was sent away to live in a foster home and another two other homes after that one.

My mother couldn’t find me and they didn’t want her to be bothering with me so they didn’t tell her where I was. My mother was able to keep the two girls- both were older than I but me and my brother Peter had to go. Peter was my twin brother. He went to a boy’s home and I went to Orillia to the Ontario Hospital School in 1947 when I was six years old. I never saw my brother again until 1959.

My first memories of the Ontario Hospital School, later called Huronia Regional Centre or HRC when I first moved in I was in a big playroom with a whole bunch of kids and we were all locked in there because they didn’t want us all in the way. I slept in a big room in the “Boys Hospital B” ward and shared the room with many other boys my age with no privacy or personal belongings. Life was very wicked and scary. If you did something wrong the staff would hand me my own toothbrush and make me scrub the floors with it. That was my week’s worth of punishment.

When I got older I then was sent to “D” cottage to go to school. That was the worst experience. I was moved to “D 3” when I was 10 years old. While I lived there I witnessed another boy who was 15 years old and lived on “D1” killed by a male staff member. The boy wouldn’t go back to his ward. He was dressed in his nightgown as punishment and he wanted to go for his breakfast but the staff wasn’t going to allow him into the dining room dressed in his nightgown. The boy refused to go back to the ward because he was hungry and because of this the staff banged the boys head against a big hot water coffee urn. The staff hit the boy’s head so hard against the urn, he died instantly. Everyone who was in the dining room saw this happen. The staff told us to keep our mouths shut and chased us out of the dining room fast. We never saw him again. There was no funeral or service; they just buried him across on the farm side in an unmarked grave. There was no investigation that followed his death. Many years after in 1987 the family tried to investigate the boys death but the staff who was suppose to go to court died. The investigation was dropped. My friend Clifford Ruppert lived with me at HRC and witnessed the killing passed away in 2007. We never had our day in court.

While living at “D” cottage I had some nasty things happen to me. I was made to lay down on the floor along with other boys with just a nightgown on and we were ordered by the staff to smell each others butts. This happened once in awhile for the staff’s entertainment and while we were waiting for the doctor to arrive for our check ups.

Other times the staff would use the rad brushes to hit us with to get us to smarten up. This would happen during the day while we sat in the day room doing nothing and were punished for moving our heads. I went to school in the morning and I was part of a group numbered from 1 to 24. I have no idea what the group numbers meant- it wasn’t done in grades. The teachers had room set up in the Administration Building on the main floor. If we did something wrong we were hit on the hands with a ruler or a stick. I didn’t learn anything there but learned how to read in later years when I joined the Adult Literacy Program. I finished in Group 24 but never graduated or learned how to read and write. I learned about money if I wanted to get out of HRC.

In 1960 I moved to Meaford. It was a social worker - Miss Margaret at HRC who decided I should go there to work on a fruit farm. I was 19 years old and could hardly wait to get out of HRC and this was my first taste of freedom from the institution. I was moved into a family home where two other men from HRC lived there with a family. The three of us men shared one big room to sleep in at night. During the day we cleaned different peoples houses around Meaford for a dollar a day. We had to put our money we earned into a jar with our names on it and it was used by the wife to purchase things we needed. I was not allowed to keep my own money- the little I earned that time.

I lived there until 1967 when HRC wanted to send me to another institution in Owen Sound because the women who ran the home I lived at wanted to retire. I didn’t want to go there where because I didn’t want to go to another institution to be locked up and my I freedom taken away from me, what little freedom I had. Because I didn’t want to go, I was sent back to HRC and lived there for two days before I was sent to a farm in Stroud.

On this farm they raised cattle. I was made to work cleaning stables and taking care of the chicken coupe. I worked from morning until night working and I paid $5.00 a week. This money I was allowed to keep but I was working long and hard hours at slave labor. When the owners went away I was left in charge of the farm and all it’s livestock and responsibilities.. I had no help with the work and worked alone. The owners were in charge of milking the cows. I was left doing the rest of the work. I stayed for a month when the owners got rid of me and wanted another man to work there instead of me.

I went back to HRC and lived there for a week before they sent me to another farm in Beaverton. I was made to work again at a cattle farm where I was in charge of cleaning stalls and helping bring in the hay. I was paid $5.00 a week for working from sun up to sun down. I stayed for there for a month before they discovered I had allergies to hay so they had to get rid of me.

I went back to HRC for a year before I was moved to Gravenhurst in July 1968 to work at the Muskoka Nursing Home and lived on grounds in a little cabin. In the winter we lived in the main building because there was no heat in the cabins. I worked odd jobs in the kitchen and laundry room eight hours a day. I was paid $66.00 a month with no medical or dental benefits. I worked there for 12 years until 1980 before I was laid off when new owners took over.

While I worked at the Muskoka Nursing Home there were other people living there who had developmental disabilities and that’s where I met Clifford. Living conditions were very poor where people had nothing to do all day. A few years later the government realized it was not the right place for these people and moved them all out. I kept in touch with Clifford and we were friends before he passed away.

After I was laid off at the nursing home I then went to work at ARC Industries in Bracebridge in 1982. I worked for $5.00 a week putting together muffler clamps and putting them in boxes. There was other contract work to do putting things together where we were paid pennies a day. The conditions were not good. The wages were poor and the assembly work boring with the same thing everyday. The staff who worked there were easy to get along with. I worked there for short period before I worked for a shoe store cleaning the shop. I was paid the same amount of money because it was still part of ARC Industries and they wanted to see if I could hold a job in the community despite my previous experiences working for other people. I was being taken advantage of because I was stuck in this program and the shop owner didn’t have to pay me full wages. While I worked at ARC Industries I lived in my own apartment and received ODSP to supplement my poor income. While I lived on my own I had a worker who visited me to help me with my bills and making sure I was paying on time. Through the ODSP office they would send me to different job placements to work.

From the shoe store I went to work at Muskoka Centre in Gravenhurst to work in janitorial but I was sent to work in a nursing home in Orillia. I was paid $60 every two weeks to clean the rooms and carry out janitorial work. That job only lasted two weeks because the owner didn’t want to be part of the employment program anymore.

I then came back to Gravenhurst to work in a small plant where they made wooden tables and chairs, and fireplace mantles. I worked there for a whole year earning minimum wage. The owner was giving it up his business so then I went to work at Sloan’s Restaurant cleaning floors. That lasted for two months before I was sent to Muskoka Family Focus as their janitor. This was the longest job I had through ODSP lasting 14 years. I was paid minimum wages there and the people treated me like family. I was 60 years old and getting too old for the job so they laid me off because they wanted some younger and stronger.

After that I went into retirement helping with the local food baskets and I am in the Literacy program. I tried to start a People First chapter in my town but didn’t get enough support behind me to continue. I did help a friend get out of special needs home while I was involved with the People First movement. I live in my own apartment in a geared to income unit and have lived in the same place for 16 years with my late wife Phyllis. Were married in 1977 and met her while working at the Muskoka Nursing Home and she also lived at HRC.

In later years when I was in my 40’s I found my mom again through the help of one of my workers. She was still living in Mississauga where I was able to visit her. She was happy to see me and was able to find my brother Peter whom she found first living in Mississauga. We kept in touch but she passed away in poverty a few years later. It was hard to loose her again.

Life was horrible when I was young but through my determination and will power to break free from the horrendous miseries and abuse I had to endure I have been able to move on and find all the good things in life. My hope is that there will be a class action against the Ontario government and that I will have my day in court to talk about the injustices I have witnessed living in an institution.

Abandoned Huronia Regional Centre

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 18:25:20 GMT

S ource https://explorationproject.org

Sometimes when I’m away from home I’ll google “abandoned [insert place name]” and see what comes up. It can lead to interesting results and discoveries. I did this recently while in Orillia, Ontario, and found a place with a deep and, sadly, disturbing history.

I first came upon a cemetery. I didn’t know really what I was seeing but there were plaques with names inscribed upon them. Walking further, I saw a monument made of two black granite pillars. A bronze tree with crows on top grew through the pillars, facing the sky. Inscribed in the granite were phrases such as “Locked Away and Forgotten“, “Tear it Down“, “You Have No Idea“, and “Babies are Buried Here“. What was this?

The Creation of Huronia Regional Centre

The Huronia Regional Centre was established in 1887 as the ‘Orillia Asylum for Idiots‘. In that day, the language used to describe people with developmental disabilities would now be considered highly offensive and the institution changed its name several times, eventually becoming the Huronia Regional Centre.

Prior to the twentieth century, people with developmental disabilities either resided with their family or were put in jail. In this era, jails not only housed those who had committed a crime but also people who were poor, homeless, mentally ill, or disabled. However, in 1839, legislation was passed in Ontario that made the government responsible for the care of people with developmental disabilities. Huronia Regional Centre was built.

Why would a family send their offspring or relative to reside in an institution? Of course every family had their reasons, but in this era, eugenics was a popular movement where people with developmental disabilities were seen as inferior and needing to be removed from society. Less inhuman, were decisions based on the inability of family members to provide proper care. The industrial revolution had arrived and people began to move into cities, losing the support of their extended families. Jobs required long working hours and there were no community supports. Families were often advised by doctors to place their loved ones into institutions where it was said they would be provided with the care and support they required. (Source: Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services)

This did not happen.

Life at Huronia

The site of the Huronia Regional Centre is large—151 acres. In the 1800’s the area was self-contained and included a water tower, boiler house, kitchen and small gas plant to light the buildings. It was also a working farm. Males and females had separate residences and slept in wards with up to 50 beds side by side. Washrooms were communal. Later, residents moved to smaller dormitory type settings with 4 to a bedroom and 12 to a dorm. Each dorm had its own dining room, washroom and common area. At Huronia, there were multiple residential buildings on site, including smaller buildings called “cottages”.

Females worked at Huronia in the areas of sewing, cooking, laundry, rug making and book binding. Males did farm work including poultry and dairy farming, made maple syrup and worked in the shoe repair shop. All labour was unpaid until the 1970’s. After the Developmental Services Act was passed in 1974, skills based programming, including life skills, recreation (including Special Olympics), vocational training, and education was also provided. (Source: Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services)

However, behind the walls of Huronia, residents were being mistreated and even staff with good intentions did not have the proper resources to provide adequate support and care. In the 1960’s a Toronto Star report written by Pierre Berton, warned readers about the conditions at Huronia. He had visited with a friend who had a child in the institution. He wrote of severe overcrowding, stating that spaces that would be full with 1000 people housed over double that number, including a large number of children under the age of 6. He described the buildings as being dilapidated—holes in the walls, paint peeling, and absorbent wooden floors that retained a stench. He worried about death by fire and ended his article with these words:

“Remember this: After Hitler fell, and the horrors of the slave camps were exposed, many Germans excused themselves because they said they did not know what went on behind those walls; no one had told them. Well, you have been told about Orillia. It is, of course, no Belsen. In many respects it is an up-to-date institution with a dedicated staff fighting an uphill battle against despairing conditions. But should fire break out in one of those ancient buildings and dozens of small bodies be found next morning in the ashes, do not say that you did not know what it was like behind those plaster walls, or underneath those peeling wooden ceilings.”

- Pierre Berton, Toronto Star, January 6, 1960

As residents gradually moved into the community, Huronia’s numbers decreased. By 2004 there were only 350 individuals residing there, with an average age of 49. The Huronia Regional Centre closed in 2009.

Lawsuit and Settlement

In 2001, Siskinds Law Firm began to research class-action litigation against the Huronia Regional Centre/Ontario government. Former residents were interviewed. Their experiences were horrendous and, as one may imagine, included multiple forms of abuse. In December, 2013, a settlement was reached and the Ontario government issued an apology. In it, they acknowledged that residents had been forcibly restrained, secluded, overcrowded, physically and emotionally abused, and exploited for labour. Resident, Harold Johnston, also reported sexual abuse and murder. The government apology included this statement:

“Their humanity was undermined, they were separated from their families and robbed of their potential, their comfort, safety and their dignity.”

- Premier Kathleen Wynne, December 9, 2013.

Former Huronia Regional Centre residents were individually compensated, with a total of 35 million dollars issued. The settlement also included all court documents, including serious occurrence reports, policies, and operational minutes, being transferred to the Archives of Ontario.

The Cemetery

The day I visited the Huronia Regional Centre, it was long abandoned. Some buildings still had activity in them, including an OPP detachment, while others had been left to the elements. The grounds were beautiful, with old trees and large lawns that we took our time strolling through. In 2017, a public consultation was undertaken to determine what to do with the property. Former residents are advocating for the buildings to be demolished and, in general, consensus is that the property should remain publicly owned, natural heritage features should be protected, and there should be a recognition of the site’s history.

Across the street from the buildings, is the Huronia Regional Centre cemetery. This is what I first stumbled upon when visiting the site. The cemetery was used to bury residents from 1899 to 1971. Prior to 1958, markers marked only the resident’s registration number. As a part of the lawsuit settlement, all individuals have now been memorialized on plaques and in an online registry by their name and date of death. A total of 1379 people are buried in this cemetery.

The monument that had attracted my attention was the outcome of advocacy from a group called “Remember Every Name.” They wanted a monument to document what happened at the Huronia Regional Centre. The 2, 12 feet tall pillars of the monument represent the institution’s walls where residents/victims were locked away from society. The tree and the crows represent survivors flying to freedom while the forget-me-not flowers and butterflies etched in the granite symbolize remembrance and growth.

From a simple google search, I was led to a property with a dark history. But because of the monument at the cemetery, I was also led to a place not only of remembering but of hope. Hope for justice and for moving forward in a different way. The monument was also a reminder of the resiliency of the human spirit, with some of the messages reflecting this: "We will be Heard" , "Freedom" , "Out of the Shadows" .

Danny and Nicky

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 19:49:03 GMT

DISCLAIMER: The content in this video may be disturbing for some people. This video was filmed in 1969 and the language used may be offensive because it does not reflect the proper terms that we use today to describe people with intellectual or physical disabilities.

This feature documentary offers a comparison of the care of two boys with Down syndrome. Danny lives at home with his brothers and sisters and attends a special neighborhood school for children with disabilities. Nicky lives in a large institution for persons with intellectual disabilities. This film clarifies common misconceptions about intellectual disabilities, and presents an intimate portrait of the families, staff, and communities that come together to assist Danny and Nicky in learning, playing, and living a fulfilling life.

DIRECTOR - Douglas Jackson

PRODUCER - Douglas Jackson

EDITING - Douglas Jackson

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Tom Daly

PHOTOGRAPHY - Douglas Kiefer

SOUND - Hans Oomes

SOUND EDITING - Bill Graziadei, Ken Page

RE-RECORDING - Roger Lamoureux

NARRATOR - Patrick Watson

MUSIC - Eldon Rathburn

National Film Board of Canada

https://www.nfb.ca/film/danny_and_nicky/

Ontario allowed decades of child abuse

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 16:08:00 GMT

There can be no turning back. The trial date is set. Courtroom 5 in the old Canada Life building is booked for two months. The two sides have agreed in writing to be there. The witnesses are ready to testify.

“We’re going ahead no matter what,” said Kirk Baert, the lead lawyer in a historic class action suit against the government of Ontario.

He never doubted this moment would come. His clients were less sure. For three years, the province used every tactic in the book — withheld documents, missed meetings, deadline extensions — to delay the case. Baert’s greatest concern was that hundreds would die waiting.

Approximately 3,900 former residents of the Huronia Centre, a provincial facility for developmentally disabled children, are still alive. There were 4,500 when Baert launched the $1-billion lawsuit in 2010.

He intends to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Ontario government knew about the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of these vulnerable youngsters and did nothing to stop it. “Even convicted murderers got better treatment,” he maintains, rehearsing one of the lines he will use in court.

The trial begins on Sept. 16. Baert will deliver a three-hour opening statement chronicling the tragic history of the Huronia Regional Centre, once known as the Orillia Asylum for Idiots. He will then call on the two lead plaintiffs, Patricia Seth and Marie Slark, to recount what happened to them at Huronia, what they saw, how they survived and how they are scarred by the discipline meted out by sadistic provincial employees. Both women are in their late 50s

Seth, diagnosed as “mildly retarded,” was surrendered by her family at the age of 7. She spent 14 years in Huronia. She remembers being hit with a radiator brush for misbehaving and held upside down by her heels in ice-cube-filled water for refusing to eat.

Slark, similarly labelled, was committed to Huronia at 6 years of age. She spent nine miserable years there, then was sent to an “approved home” under Huronia’s supervision, where she was drugged and sexually molested.

Others were more savagely beaten but they have lost their memories, they can’t communicate or they are among the 2,000 children buried in Huronia’s cemetery.

One of those victims was Richard, an 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome. His sister, Marilyn Dolmage, was so upset by his death that she trained to be social worker and got a job at Huronia. She will describe children locked in caged cots, being punished for bodily functions they could not control, cowering from the staff.

Compelling as his witnesses’ testimony will be — and Baert expects to call 10 more former residents, 10 former employees of Huronia, doctors, child development specialists, historians, demographers and managers of similar institutions o the stand — he regards the government’s own paper trail the most incriminating piece of evidence.

“I don’t need to win this case with witnesses. It will prove itself on the documents. They (provincial officials) kept recording that there was a problem, but they never did anything to fix it.”

Huronia closed in 2009. The abused children became its “forgotten victims.”

The legal team has amassed 65,000 records — letters from distraught parents, bureaucratic memos, ministerial directives, police reports, eyewitness accounts, coroners’ reports, inspectors’ reports, newspaper exposés and the findings of three provincial commissions of inquiry. They tell the story in graphic detail.

Baert, a partner at Koskie Minsky, specializes in David-vs.-Goliath class-action suits. In 2007, he won a $4-billion judgment on behalf of aboriginal students sent to government-approved residential schools. In 2010, he won $36 million in damages for homeowners in Port Colborne whose properties were contaminated by Vale Inco’s nickel operations.

He is confident he will win this case. “They underfunded this institution because they could. They knew the people held there couldn’t fight back.”

Every so often Baert’s professional mien slips. He detests bullies. He is disgusted by public officials who refuse to accept responsibility for mistreating vulnerable children.

“Huronia has no excuse for doing a crappy job” He catches himself. “I won’t say crappy in court.” Then Baert pauses. “Maybe I will. What they did stank.”

By Carol Goar, The Star Columnist

HRC abuse victims struggled with class-action process, outcome

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 20:19:53 GMT

Marie Slark was hopeful when former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) came together in a class-action to sue the province for forcing them to linger for years in an abusive and toxic environment.

She was taken to the former Orillia facility for people with developmental disabilities when she was seven years old, enduring all sorts of abuses until she was let out at age 20.

Maybe, she thought hopefully when the $2-billion claim was launched, she could buy her own home.

But in the end, the case was settled for $35 million. And for years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the maximum former residents could receive was $42,000.

“It wasn’t really worth going to court for,” said Slark, now 64 and living independently in an apartment in Toronto. “Those who don’t speak only got $2,000” no matter how long they lived at the Orillia facility or what they endured.

If she and other people who knew them hadn’t spoken out for them, her brother, Tommy, and sister, Karen, would have received nothing more than the $2,000 minimum, she added.

The class size was estimated by the court to be 4,308 people who were still alive in 2013. But the exact number was never fully determined.

In the end, 1,705 claims were accepted.

When Toronto lawyer Loretta Merritt argues passionately that individual lawsuits are often a better approach for victims of historic institutional abuse, particularly those involving sexual abuse, than class actions, she points to the HRC case, along with a series of other settlements in Ontario, including several institutions in Simcoe County, which are now all closed.

“I think an individual action is a good idea a lot of the time,” said Merritt.

An individual plaintiff is in the driver’s seat, directing its course. So they, not the lawyers, decide whether to settle or not, she said.

Merritt adds that they have the opportunity to have their own individual story told and they can customize the settlement for their own individual needs.

But a big part of her argument is the financial outcome.

Class-actions can be to the defendant’s advantage, allowing them to pay “pennies on the dollar” for those who come forward and collect damages under the class proceeding, she said. They could also get back any settlement fund money that isn’t paid out.

And any abuse survivors who don’t come forward to collect their money under the class-action and haven’t already opted out, no longer have a chance to claim anything. The class-action extinguishes future claims whether victims are aware of the class-action or not.

“They can get a whole lot more money” through individual lawsuits, she said. “I’m talking many multiples” of what class members have been getting in Ontario.

She points to settlement decisions in several local historic institutional abuse cases involving thousands of victims:

The court approved a final settlement for former HRC residents in December 2013 for $35 million. The lawyers’ cut was $8.5 million, according to Merritt’s analysis.

The Sheila Morrison School for learning disabilities in Utopia, which is between Barrie and Angus, resulted in a $4-million court-approved settlement in March 2013. Class members received a maximum of $50,000. Merrit found that the lawyers were paid $1.1 million.

In another class-action involving several institutions across the province, residents of the former Edgar Adult Occupational Centre near Horseshoe Valley received a maximum of $42,000. The total settlement approved by the court in April 2016 for residents at Edgar, Muskoka Centre and several other institutions was nearly $36 million. The lawyers received $3.7 million.

All those class-actions were handled by the Toronto law firm, Koskie Minsky LLP, who did not respond to requests for an interview.

Jody Brown was one of several lawyers at Koskie Minsky LLP handling those lawsuits on behalf of the residents and now practises with Goldblatt Partners LLP. He agrees that class-actions are not necessarily suitable for all situations involving several plaintiffs.

“My opinion is that it’s not just class-action versus individual cases in these abuse situations,” he said. “It’s looking at the nature of the claims in the group and whether class-action’s going to be the right vehicle to effectively reach this group.

“You’ve really got to look at the people in the case and the harm alleged as to which one might be the best way to go.”

A group of individuals aggregating their claim wields more power than an individual, he said.

People who are harmed also find some comfort facing the organization accused of wrongdoing in court action in the company of others who have been similarly affected so that they’re not alone.

Brown added that class-actions can tap into notice programs available through advocates to get the word out in hopes of reaching all the people impacted. In Ontario, everyone is automatically part of that defined class unless they decide to opt out.

Class-actions also achieve more than financial compensation for class members

Those who called the Huronia Regional Centre home between 1945 and 2009 when it closed received a lengthy apology from then-premier Kathleen Wynne just two weeks before Christmas in 2013 for the neglect and abuse they suffered living in the Orillia facility.

With former residents in the gallery of the Legislature, she acknowledged that some had been forcibly restrained, left in seclusion, exploited for their labour and crowded into unsanitary dormitories.

The following year a commemorative plaque was installed on site to honour the memory of the centre’s residents. A cemetery registry was also created.

The government filed many of the documents detailing the history of HRC with the Archives of Ontario to ensure that the sad era of the institutionalization of society’s most vulnerable wouldn’t escape the grip of history.

And of the $35-million total award, about $7.4 million in surplus was used for Strategic Program Investments, which helped groups designed to assist people with developmental disabilities as well as funding efforts to tell some of the HRC stories, which was important to Slark and others whose earlier complaints about the abuse were dismissed.

The case didn’t go smoothly and definitely didn’t achieve everything the former residents had hoped for. But residents like Slark, who served as one of two representative plaintiffs, are satisfied that the world now knows what happened for so many years at the facility.

In the end, social worker Marilyn Dolmage, who advocated for Slark and the HRC residents and was a big part in getting the ball rolling, feels torn.

“I see people jumping into class-actions,” she said. “It would be good for them to know more.”

By: Marg. Bruineman, OrilliaMatters.com

HRC class action revealed abuse and much about the legal system

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:24:34 GMT

Marilyn Dolmage painfully read the details about how some patients at the former Oak Ridge psychiatric institution in Penetanguishene — now called Waypoint — were treated.

It’s yet another Simcoe County institution whose patients or residents endured years of abuse in the past.

At Oak Ridge, the extreme treatment was referred to as torture.

An Ontario Superior Court judge has found the province and two psychiatrists liable for using pain as an instrument in “experimental forms of therapy” on 28 patients between 1966 and 1983 and “breaching their fiduciary duties and by perpetrating assault and battery."

At the hands of their keepers, the patients in the maximum-security psychiatric institution on Asylum Point were given drugs, including the hallucinogen LSD, subject to a strict physical disciplinary regime, and locked naked in an isolation cell, which also included the use of hallucinogenic drugs.

Justice Edward Morton’s judgment came in June, 20 years after the case was first presented to the courts. By then, only 20 of the patients suing were still alive to hear the decision.

A spokesperson for Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey said the decision is being carefully reviewed as the government considers whether or not to appeal.

Just the same, the case hasn’t reached its final conclusion. A hearing on damages has yet to be scheduled, with the total value of the award anticipated to be in the millions of dollars.

Dolmage served as litigation guardian for Marie Slark in another local high-profile institutional abuse case: Orillia’s Huronia Regional Centre (HRC). The shuttered facility, over the years, housed thousands of people with a developmental disability; it has weaved in and out of Dolmage’s life since the death of her brother there 60 years ago.

Dolmage started her career as a social worker at HRC where she met Slark, a resident who was physically, sexually and emotionally abused over the many years she lived there.

They, as well as many of the residents involved in that class-action, are torn about the legal process they used to seek justice.

Other victimized residents of Simcoe County institutions — the Sheila Morrison School for learning disabilities in Utopia between Barrie and Angus, as well as the Adult Occupational Centre in Edgar, near Horseshoe Valley — also used the class-action process.

The striking difference in those institutional abuse cases that happened in our backyard is that all, with the exception of the Oak Ridge case, were class-actions.

Oak Ridge was also the only one that went to trial, while the remaining cases were settled.

“Right to the last day we believed we were going to trial,” said Patricia Seth, who was sent to HRC in 1964 when she was seven years old.

Like others who lived there, Seth wanted to tell the court about what she had endured as a child and then as a young adult.

“The staff got protected by their union. We didn’t have a union to protect us; we had nowhere to run,” said Seth, now 62 and living in an apartment in Toronto. “We have beautiful freedom now.”

When the Oak Ridge suit was launched in 2000, it did start life as a class-action. But at a hearing three years later, Maurice Cullity, then a judge with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, refused to certify it.

He found the individual situation that each patient was subjected to differed from patient to patient and that they had individual medical pasts. In addressing the breach of fiduciary duties, he was “not satisfied that degrees of power imbalance and vulnerability can be determined otherwise than on an individual basis.”

His decision may well have been prescient.

Class-actions are a relatively young legal approach. The idea is to provide a group of people who have been harmed by an organization some redress.

Those cases typically involved product liability — like a car part deemed to be deficient, but not worth the bother for one person to sue over or for the courts to hear hundreds or thousands of cases dealing with the same issue.

But a British Columbia case opened the door to using class-actions for abuses that occurred in institutions across the country over the years.

The principal objectives of class-actions identified by the Supreme Court of Canada is the efficiency of having the court hear one complaint from many people, deterring organizations from repeating the offending behaviour and providing a group of people access to justice.

But how they’ve been used in the past may not reflect how they’ll be used in the future, at least in Ontario.

There is anticipation that changes to Ontario’s not-quite-30-year-old Class Proceedings Act, which received Royal Assent earlier this month, is introducing more stringent rules and could limit their use. That’s either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective.

For those who have used class-actions to address historic cases of abuse in institutions, the jury is out about whether or not they were effective and achieved the goals of the class members.

“It was hard. We didn’t get everything we wanted,” said Slark, a former HRC resident who's now 66 years old and living in Toronto. “I think it’s worth it, because people are listening to us now about what happened.”

But when asked if she would choose the route of a class-action again, Seth replied: “Not after what we went through.”

Dolmage also expressed some disappointment over the HRC class-action process and its results. The class members, she said, have no power, unlike individual lawsuits where the lawyers follow the direction of their clients. And the payouts were also low.

On the other hand, the voices of the residents, many of whom had been abused for years, were finally heard and, importantly, believed. And the class action included all the former residents, including those who could not speak and say what happened to them.

“I still think it’s worthwhile, because the stories of the survivors got out,” said Dolmage. “We want the world to know that places like this are wrong, they’re wrong for everybody.”

July 28th, 2020 By: Marg. Bruineman, OrilliaMatters.com

Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 18:52:01 GMT

On March 31 2009, people across Ontario celebrated the closure of all government-run institutions that excluded people labeled with developmental disabilities from society. The largest and oldest of these was Huronia Regional Centre, in Orillia, Ontario. HRC established the pattern of systemic abuse and neglect, which spread to other institutions across Canada.

We are "Remember Every Name", a group of survivors and allies who honour those who died at HRC; we commit to remembering past harm and preventing it in the future.

In 2013, a class action was settled and some Ontario institution survivors were compensated for horrendous abuses. Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized, admitting that people "were failed by a model of institutional care ", after decades of overcrowding, understaffing and underfunding. Both Conservative and NOP leaders echoed those concerns. The Ontario government pledged "to protect the memory of all those who have suffered, help tell their stories and ensure that the lessons of this time are not lost." Now you know this promise has been broken.

Thankfully, the Canadian Military Joint Task Force reported what they saw when they were deployed into Ontario "long term care" institutions this Spring. HRC survivors are appalled, but not surprised, that people continue to be neglected and abused in Ontario institutions. HRC survivors remember experiencing many of those same injuries and indignities themselves, and remember children and adults dying among them. Institution survivors know that mistreatment will happen, whenever vulnerable people are congregated and removed from society, locked up and forgotten.

Please note that the people forced to live in Ontario "long term care" institutions are not all elderly; they admit disabled people as young as 18 years old. And the horrible irony is that people who have been denied support to remain in their own homes and communities actually get less support in institutions, at greater cost to taxpayers. In fact, when HRC closed, some people moved directly into these other Ontario institutions, often operated by political friends of government, for profit. Also when people living in Ontario group homes need more support, they continue to be moved into some of the worst institutions, where no one advocates for them. Now they are dying there.

All governments across Canada have known for a long time about these deplorable conditions. It should not have taken a pandemic to expose the problems in nursing and retirement institutions across this country. All of you failed to address the problems revealed in years of inspection and media reports. Ontario institution survivors want you to make sure history stops repeating itself. Canada must find a way out of this deadly quagmire. You and Premier Doug Ford said you would do whatever it takes to stop this.

Your federal government must lead the provinces to save the lives of Canadians.

Stop deceiving everyone by calling these institutions "homes".
Establish and enforce national standards to immediately promote residents' rights and ensure safe and humane care for our seniors and people with disabilities.
Create national monitoring requirements - in-depth inspections, with licenses removed if problems are found.
End for-profit institutions and stop institutional development. Stop diverting government funding to benefit wealthy corporations. (Survivors are horrified that the Ontario and Orillia governments have a plan to build another of these institutions on the property of HRC. This must stop now.)
All investigations of this system must consider why people end up in these institutions and create options to prevent admissions and help people leave.
The federal government must inform Canadians about the options that already exist elsewhere to increase community supports. Countries like Denmark might show how Canadians can do better. Tell us about the inspiring examples in some parts of Canada, that demonstrate innovative housing and non-institutional support arrangements.
Stop building more institutions and instead provide capital for home renovations.
Make better use of our tax dollars through direct funding - so that disabled people and seniors can hire support people and remain in their own homes.

HRC survivors denounce the horrible conditions in the places where seniors and the disabled have been forced to live and where so many are now dying. Canadians must listen to their voices of experience. Canada needs a systemic overhaul - and it has to happen now.

Cc: Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Jill Dunlop MPP Simcoe North

Norm Miller MPP Parry Sound, Muskoka

Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke

Chris Beasely, Executive Director, Community Living Ontario

Kory Earle, President People First Canada

Stephanie Paul - President People First Ontario

Krista Carr, Executive Vice President, Canadian Association for Community Living Carla O'Neill, Chair, Family Alliance Ontario

Barry Goes Back to the Institution

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 17:49:57 GMT

Written Mike Bonikowski

Published by Ben Drew, Founder Open Future Learning

Barry and I have been planning the trip for six months, and the day has finally come. We leave our little town and drive east and then north through the greens and grays of the last days of May, back to the institution.

Barry has not been back since he left it at the age of 35. He is turning 80 this summer. As we travel, he presents to me a list of names as they occur to him, men and women, friend and girlfriends and enemies, all presented with the coda “...died and is buried there.” He has recalled at least ten such names by the time we merge onto Highway 11. From there it’s a just a few minutes to the exit and suddenly we have arrived. I am caught off guard and unprepared, but Barry has been thinking about this day for a long time.

Barry sat in front of a memorial from the institution.

The institution is a ruin in progress, half-heartedly preserved by an embarrassed government. Closed in 2009 after a process of litigation in which Barry played a key role as witness and now more-or-less abandoned, it has never seen better days. The lilac trees on the grounds have run rampant and their scent hangs in the air throughout the green and sprawling grounds. The vultures that make their nests in the dead trees by the lake soar between the red brick buildings with interruption. The grass is shaggy and verdant and a home to the happy colonies of Canada geese and their young.

“That’s C Cottage,” says Barry, pointing out the window of the van. “That’s where I lived.” It’s square and red and seems to have no redeeming qualities despite of the heritage plaque that marks it for preservation. It looks like what it was: a warehouse for human misery, a role now delegated to buildings better suited for the role.

“There’s the laundry, and the boy’s infirmary. There’s the doctor’s house.” We circle the grounds until we are stopped by a security guard. When asked what we might happen to be doing cruising around an abandoned institution on a Saturday afternoon, Barry is quick to explain: “I was a patient here, from 1947 to 1975. I was brought here when I was seven years old. I was abused.” He begins to expand upon his experiences as a ward of the unkindly government, and the horrified guard quickly sends us on our way with his stammered blessing.

Barry sat in front of a memorial from the institution.

We continue our slow sad circumnavigation. Barry does not seem to have forgotten a single detail. “There’s the administration building. There was a fire, and the tower burned down. We all had to go outside in our underwear.” He recounts many other memories that took place in these now-empty buildings too horrible to record here. They have found their place in witness accounts of the lawsuit that finally emptied them, that made the government issue an official apology, and to compensate the survivors.

Our tour complete, we pick up lunch at the drive-through down the road. “This was the potato field,” Barry remembers. “I used to work here.”

Institutions have been on my mind lately, increasingly. We are making our journey to the institution in the heart of the pandemic of 2020. Back at the home Barry shares with four other men, things have taken on an increasingly institutional tone. No one has left the home, except for drives such as this one, in nearly four months. All trips and programs have been cancelled. Those with hard-won employment have been laid off. All-important measures of independence like public transit have been revoked. Church is a memory. Even family visits are a thing of the past, and I have had to personally forbid family members from coming to the house when not able to guarantee physical distancing. The risk is simply too high. All that matters anymore is keeping the virus out of the house, getting the men through this alive to exercise their rights another day.

Barry sat in front of a memorial from the institution.

I have been the face of these restrictions, exercising authorities I could never have imagined holding six months ago. I am the one who says “no”, from behind a mask that hides my all-important facial cues. The dictates of doctors rule our days, as they did in the days of the institution. The rights and the person-centered plans that have guided all our policies and practices have been put on hold in the name of health and safety.

I can’t disagree with these restrictions. If COVID-19 found its way into Barry’s modest back-split home it would quickly wreak the same destruction that has been seen in so many other congregant care facilities. It is, in every sense, a matter of life and death.

But one wonders for how long after the rest of the world drifts back more-or-less to normalcy Barry and his housemates will remain prisoners to their own safety. Power is notoriously hard to surrender, once taken hold of. The staff who worked at the institution, who committed so many hundreds of thousands of acts of mercy and cruelty over the decades, are my forebears. The virus has, in many ways, made me the inheritor of the power they had. I hold the keys now, though I do not want them.

We cross Memorial Drive to a small green space we’ve come to see, the new memorial raised in 2019 on the site where more than two thousand men and women and children and infants are buried. Barry touches the names on the plaques and reads out the years in which they died, many from abuse or neglect, all of them cut off from the rest of a world that was encouraged to forget them. “Remember Their Names” read the memorial, and Barry does. We look for the ones he listed on the drive here, but there are too many to read through, and he is getting tired. In his olive green jacket Barry looks like what he is: a veteran visiting a memorial to fallen comrades. He leaves the pot of flowers he has brought beside the granite stone that reads “In Memory of Those Whose Life Journey Ended Here”. We sit among the dead and eat our burgers as the wind picks up. Then we simply sit, the survivor and the abuser’s heir, looking out across the field that holds those who did not survive the authority placed over them. I feel like I should say something, but there are no words for this. Barry and I return to the van and begin the journey back home.

It is Barry who breaks the silence, as we reach the highway: “They’ve all gone to heaven, and no one can harm them anymore.” I nod, grateful for his epigram. The silence extends until, unable to bear it any longer, I turn on the oldies station.

Much has changed since the institutions were closed, but harm can still be done on this side of heaven. But if harm is still possible, then so is healing, and so too is the hope that we can find a better way of helping, side by side with those we support.

Group seeks city funding for HRC Survivors Monument amenities

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:30:25 GMT

When the Survivors Memorial Monument was unveiled late last summer at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) cemetery, it was an important and emotional milestone for many.

While the stunning monument was hailed as a “beautiful sculpture,” those who worked long and hard to ensure the monument was created say there is more work needed to ensure the memorial is accessible.

Debbie Vernon, the communications coordinator for Remember Every Name - a group that is working to identify and mark gravesites at the cemetery - recently wrote a letter to city council asking the municipality to consider funding for amenities that would open up the monument to more people.

“At the dedication ceremony last August, a couple of councillors with the City of Orillia approached me indicating interest in helping us with the walkway, plaque, benches and sodding around the monument after it was announced at the dedication ceremony that it was our intent to continue the work to have this done,” she explained.

The group has decided that Instead of erecting a plaque, the hope is to install two black granite benches to match the materials and workmanship of the monument.

The wording, originally intended for a plaque, would instead be engraved on the backrest of the benches. One bench would have the words engraved into the granite and the other bench would be engraved with braille which would enable blind and partially sighted people to read through touch.

“We hope the city can find a way in their budget to install the accessible walkway, sod and benches to help the survivors finish this project,” said Vernon.

While the request was referred to staff for comments and further information, Coun. David Campbell said he thinks council should try to help.

“Mayor (Steve) Clarke, Coun. Tim Lauer, Coun,. Jay Fallis and myself attended the monument ceremony,” said Campbell.

“Tim and I really noticed the difficulty some people were having with getting to the monument (very difficult in a wheelchair for example). We had a conversation with the group … about what the city might be able to do to help with the situation,” said Campbell.

“We wondered if it might be possible to include sidewalk creation as part of the city’s annual sidewalk budget,” he said.

“As the City of Orillia benefitted from having the HRC as a large local employer for many years, it seems appropriate to try and cover these costs for the site,” said Campbell.

Vernon said the “beautiful sculpture was designed in collaboration with Huronia Regional Centre survivors and created by noted metal sculptor Hilary Clark Cole in conjunction with Signature Memorials.”

Funding for the HRC survivors memorial monument came from the Huronia Regional Centre class action settlement.

The survivors hosted a dedication service last August as a tribute to remember those who are buried at the HRC cemetery.

“Most were buried with a number and not a name and staff later removed most of their grave markers,” Vernon explained.

She said survivors would like to include a statement to commemorate the monument on new granite park benches. This is the proposed wording:

“Crows have long memories and remind us we are not alone in caring for this place and the people buried here. They call out and encourage us to speak and demand the truth. As survivors we call on our communities to listen and learn from our experiences, so history will not repeat itself. Butterflies represent the freedom and achievements of survivors lives outside the institution. Forget-me-nots signify our commitment to remembering what must never be forgotten. This monument serves as a testament- to the pain and hopes of people who are now free but who can never forget; and to the dream and struggle to end all institutions where people are not free. Hear the chorus of our hearts. Honour every death, remember every name, cherish every life.”

It would be dedicated "to all those who survived living at the Huronia Regional Centre and to those whose lives ended here. May peace be with them.”

Feb 21, 2020 11:45 AM By: Dave Dawson, orilliamatters.com

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/group-seeks-city-funding-for-hrc-survivors-monument-amenities-2099763?fbclid=IwAR2joS4Jwo9dn19YvcsTsywx_t38E9qxnRvSnoXjIt2jMkBsC81Q2_UgRo8

Orillia should pitch in to make HRC monument accessible

Wed, 12 Feb 2020 19:27:27 GMT

Former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre and their families are seeking city support for a project that pays tribute to those who died at the site, as well as survivors.

“We are hopeful the city of Orillia will finally recognize that people living at HRC created jobs and revenue for the city for many decades, and now help contribute to the memorial,” said Debbie Vernon, a spokesperson for Remember Every Name.

A sculpture unveiled last August at the HRC cemetery was designed in collaboration with survivors, and created by metal sculptor Hilary Clark Cole in conjunction with Signature Memorials.

Funding for the piece came from a settlement that followed the Huronia Regional Centre class action, launched in response to the abuse many residents experienced there.

“All the funds allocated were used to create the monument, but there is more work needed to be done to make this complete,” Vernon added.

Survivors want included a statement commemorating the monument, along with a walkway leading from the cemetery and around the monument to ensure it is accessible.

Vernon said she was approached by a couple of councillors during a dedication ceremony for the monument last August, adding they expressed interest in helping.

Coun. David Campbell, who attended the ceremony with Coun. Tim Lauer, told Simcoe.com he hoped money could be found in the city’s sidewalks program to create an accessible path.

“One of the things we noticed were some of the people coming up in wheelchairs and having great difficulty getting to it,” Campbell said.

Council referred the group’s letter to council committee and requested a report from the parks, recreation and culture department.

The group is also suggesting installing two black granite benches to match the monument, with a statement of commemoration engraved on the back rests.

One bench would be engraved with words and the other with braille.

According to Vernon, the majority of those buried at the cemetery on Memorial Avenue were marked with a number but not a name, and most of the grave markers were later removed.

Today, individuals without grave markers, and those with numbered graves, are memorialized on a plaque and on a row of monuments.

Feb 12, 2020 by Frank Matys, Orillia Today

https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/9849444-orillia-should-pitch-in-to-make-hrc-monument-accessible-campbell/

Monument Site Addition - Request to City of Orillia

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 19:58:33 GMT

Dear Mayor Steve Clarke and City Councillors,

This beautiful sculpture was designed in collaboration with Huronia Regional Centre survivors and created by noted metal sculptor Hilary Clark Cole in conjunction with Signature Memorials. Funding for the HRC survivor’s memorial monument was obtained from the Huronia Regional Centre class action settlement. The survivors hosted a dedication service on August 24, 2019 as a moving tribute to remember those who are buried at the Huronia Regional Centre Cemetery. Most were buried with a number and not a name and staff later removed most of their grave markers. It was also a day to celebrate the successes and resilience of those who survived the institution.

All the funds allocated were used to create the monument but there is more work needed to be done to make this complete. Survivors would like to include a statement to commemorate the monument with the following wording;

“Crows have long memories and remind us we are not alone in caring for this place and the people buried here. They call out and encourage us to speak and demand the truth.

As survivors we call on our communities to listen and learn from our experiences, so history will not repeat itself. Butterflies represent the freedom and achievements of survivors lives outside the institution. Forget-me-nots signify our commitment to remembering what must never be forgotten.

This monument serves as a testament- to the pain and hopes of people who are now free but who can never forget; and to the dream and struggle to end all institutions where people are not free. Hear the chorus of our hearts. Honour every death, remember every name, cherish every life.”

Dedicated August 24, 2019 to all those who survived living at the Huronia Regional Centre and to those whose lives ended here. May peace be with them.”

Survivors also hope to have a walkway installed leading from the cemetery and around the monument to be accessible to all people and seating for those who visit.

At the dedication ceremony last August, a couple of councilors with the City of Orillia approached me indicating interest in helping us with the walkway, plaque, benches and sodding around the monument after it was announced at the dedication ceremony that it was our intent to continue the work to have this done.

Instead of erecting a plaque it is suggested to install two black granite benches to match the materials and workmanship of the monument. With this in mind, the wording with the commemoration would be engraved on the back rest of the benches- one bench having the words engraved into the granite and the other bench engraved with braille which would enable blind and partially sighted people to read through touch.

We hope the city can find a way in their budget to install the accessible walkway, sod and benches to help the survivors finish this project. It will be critical to have survivors, the artist Hilary Clark Cole and Steve Sanderson from Signature Memorials involved with the planning and design of any future work at the memorial to keep the project abject with the monument.

We are hopeful the city of Orillia will finally recognize that people living at HRC created jobs and revenue for the city for many decades, and now help contribute to the memorial.

Our government contact we worked with at Infrastructure Ontario was Fid Leonard, Director Asset Management, South Region for Infrastructure Ontario regarding the licence agreement for the installation of the monument last summer. It has since expired on November 1st, 2019. He explained to me in order to issue a new licence agreement permission must be obtained from Minister Todd Smith, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. We would plan to write the letter with an invitation for the Minister to come to Orillia to visit the monument perhaps at our next Mother’s Day Memorial Procession in May. Before we do though we would need to know when and if the City of Orillia is willing and able to carry this project through to completion for us.

On behalf of the survivors, thank you in advance for taking this request into consideration and with approval, your support will be gladly received and greatly appreciated!

Survivors gather for unveiling of monument at HRC Cemetery

Sat, 24 Aug 2019 13:24:07 GMT

By: Nathan Taylor, OrilliaMatters.com

Monument allows people to remember those who lived and died at HRC; 'I would like to end this horrible tragedy of the past, but it’s not easy,' survivor says.

A monument unveiled Saturday at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) Cemetery is a way for people to remember both those who survived and those who died at the Orillia institution.

However, Carrieanne Ford-Tompkins would sooner forget.

“It releases my soul,” she said of the Survivors Memorial Monument, "but when I see the HRC, it brings back the trauma.”

She wouldn't even glance across the street at the buildings in which she used to reside.

Ford-Tompkins went into the HRC when she was 13 and stayed there until she was 28. During that time, she said she experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

She has post-traumatic stress disorder and and still loses sleep at night. When she does drift off, the nightmares await.

“It’s like a broken record,” said the Brampton woman. “I would like to end this horrible tragedy of the past, but it’s not easy.”

Brian Logie knows the feeling, having spent six years at the HRC. He spoke to the crowd Saturday.

“I’m Brian Logie. I’m a survivor,” he began.

However, he had no interest in speaking about himself.

“I want to talk about the people who are not here. It breaks my heart,” he said. “I hope we never forget.”

Lynda Lou Gourlie couldn’t forget the HRC if she tried. Her sister, Diane Marilyn Gourlie, was four years old when she entered the institution for the developmentally disabled in 1958. She remained there until almost 1970.

“I remember the metal doors clinking. It was a like a prison. We couldn’t go past that point,” Lynda Lou Gourlie said of the times her family would drop her sister off.

“When she got out, she was so severely institutionalized, they put her in a psych ward and they couldn’t control her," Gourlie added.

The experience took its toll on the family members who visited once a month and had to say a painful goodbye over and over again.

“We were always in agony that we had to give her away all the time,” Gourlie said. “We were victims of the atrocities and abuse, too. The pain that our family went through was excruciating.”

Her sister is now 64 years old and living a better life in a group home in North York.

“After years of therapeutic help, she’s functioning with other adults,” Gourlie said.

During the ceremony Saturday, Mitchell Wilson provided a brief history of the HRC. He has been researching it to help Remember Every Name, a group that is working to identify and mark gravesites at the cemetery.

The first buildings at the stand-alone HRC site on Memorial Avenue opened in 1889, and the institution “operated as the heart of the eugenics movement in Ontario” over the next few decades, Wilson explained.

The number of people buried at the cemetery remains a mystery, with estimates being anywhere from 1,500 to more than 2,000.

The causes of death varied. Disease was a major one in the “grossly overcrowded facility,” which, despite being designed for 1,400, housed almost 3,000 people at its peak.

“They were basically left to live in their own filth, and that led to a huge mortality rate,” Wilson said.

Some were hit by trains that used to run near the property. Some died of asphyxiation after being left alone in steam rooms. Others were beaten to death.

“Most of these deaths were never investigated properly,” Wilson said, noting more than 4,000 people died during the first 100 years the HRC was in operation.

Some say the treatment of residents improved in the facility’s later years, before it was shut down in 2009, but Wilson read an abuse report from the early 2000s that included details of a staff member brandishing scissors and threatening to cut off residents’ genitals.

“That doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to live,” he said, to which survivors in the crowd yelled, “Nope,” in agreement.

There were cheers and tears when the monument was unveiled.

“Finally, it’s a reality. It’s finally arrived,” said Hilary Clark Cole, the Gravenhurst artist who created the monument with the help of Steve Sanderson, owner of Signature Memorials in Orillia.

“I hope you all enjoy this sculpture. I think some of the most important moments you’ll have are by yourself when you’re with this sculpture."

Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop and Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller helped survivors and their supporters navigate the red tape and receive government approval to erect the monument, which was funded by unclaimed money from a class-action lawsuit survivors launched against the province.

“To help bring closure to the survivors and families is very important to me,” Dunlop said, describing the sculpture as “a symbol of your strength and resilience for the atrocities you have faced.”

Miller said the monument was “long overdue.”

It acknowledges the residents’ negative experiences, he said, but added it “simultaneously celebrates all that the survivors have overcome and their successes since leaving the centre.”

Mayor Steve Clarke thanked everyone who was behind the “amazing” sculpture.

“The HRC is such a significant part of Orillia’s past, and not all of it is wonderful memories,” he said. “This particular piece will allow us to celebrate the residents who were in the HRC … and the former residents who are in our community.”

Studio Visit with Hilary Clarke Cole

Sun, 28 Jul 2019 17:47:34 GMT

On a beautiful summer’s day on July 28, 2019 Betty Ann Bond, Bev Link, Cindy Scott and her mother and Debbie Vernon visited Hilary Clark Cole’s Studio to see the work in progress of the sculptured art piece.

We were filmed by Barri Cohen, Exec Producer – Filmmaker of White Pine Pictures Inc. and her film crew for a future documentary regarding the Huronia Regional Centre survivors and their stories. Hilary explained the process of how the sculpture was built, the method of piecing it together and the tools it took to put it all together.

Family searching for answers since Orillia's Robin Windross disappeared in 1977

Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:10:29 GMT

Former Huronia Regional Centre resident went missing more than 40 years ago

Robin Kenneth Windross disappeared from the Huronia Regional Centre on Nov. 15, 1977, at age 21.

The ensuing police search failed to locate the longtime centre resident, who was said to have the intellectual capacity of a six-year-old.

Now, his parents Betty and Allan Bellchambers are seeking an answer to the mystery that has haunted the family for more than 40 years: What happened to Robin?

“I still feel he is alive,” said Betty, who turns 81 in May. “He could be gone and he could still be alive. We don’t know that.”

Windross was placed at HRC at age five on the recommendation of specialists at Toronto’s Hospital For Sick Children.

“Both doctors said that if he got to be 15, he could be violent at that time,” recalled Betty. “But he was never a violent kid.”

Whenever Windross came home for visits, he did not want to return to the facility, telling Betty “they are mean,” she said.

“They hit me,” she remembers him saying. “At that time, I didn’t know what to do.”

Prior to his disappearance, Windross had been transferred from a children’s ward at HRC to one of its adult units.

According to a newspaper account published Nov. 17, 1977, counsellors in his building realized he was missing at approximately 10:30 p.m. on the evening in question.

“It was thought that he’d gone to the Orillia Terriers-Cambridge Hornets hockey game that night,” the paper reported.

Staff was unable to make contact with the arena and waited until the bus ferrying HRC residents from the game returned.

However, a driver’s record confirmed that Windross wasn't at the game.

When Betty received the call later that night informing her he’d gone missing, she leaned into a wall and dropped to the floor.

“I said, ‘Allan, take this’,” she recalled. “I couldn’t answer.”

While the Bellchambers were initially told their son hadn’t been seen since 6 p.m. that night, some staff reported having observed him later in the evening.

A description of Windross was broadcast over the radio the following afternoon.

Searches of the HRC, local neighbourhoods and outlying areas by Orillia police, aided by local citizens band radio clubs, failed to locate him.

There was speculation that a friend who previously lived at the HRC may have visited him that evening, and that the two left together.

According to his parents, he was not one to wander.

“We didn’t know what to believe,” said Allan, Robin’s stepfather.

Without an answer, the couple said their goodbyes during a funeral service, held at their request, in 1978.

It was, “the hardest day of our lives,” Allan said.

But the service wouldn’t put to rest the couple’s yearning for the truth.

“Every time I (saw) a young lad, I was looking to see if it was him,” Betty said.

Sharon Bellchambers, one of two sisters to Robin, was 17 when he went missing.

While telling Simcoe.com she wants closure, Sharon says she has mixed feelings about pursuing the matter now, adding she had “come to terms with it.

“It just brings up memories, all the things that he’s missed,” she said.

OPP detectives visited Betty and Allan's home in recent years, swabbing Betty’s mouth for DNA.

Det.-Insp. Martin Graham, of the OPP’s criminal investigation branch, confirmed police have revisited the case and others related to the HRC.

A review was undertaken after the province issued an apology and financial settlement to former residents who were mistreated at the facility.

Police re-examined the Windross case.

“Unfortunately, despite our best efforts during that time we were unable to further that investigation, or to give the answers that we know the family is seeking as relating to their loved one,” Graham said, adding the case is classified as a missing person where foul play cannot be excluded.

Investigators took the swab sample from Betty after discovering police did not have any familial DNA to compare with a missing person or unidentified remains.

“Unfortunately, there were no hits on any unidentified remains,” Graham said.

A profile of Windross on the federal website canadasmissing.ca states, “he may have left Huronia Regional Centre because he was concerned about being transferred in the facility to a unit with mostly adults.”

In telling their story publicly, the Bellchambers hope that circumstances surrounding his disappearance may come to light.

“I’d like to know where he is, and if he is still alive,” Betty said.

Whether a missing person case is actively investigated “depends on what, if any information is around or whether there is any further investigative avenues or strategies that can be developed from that,” Graham added.

Police say they welcome any new information.

“Obviously with the passage of time and, physically the number of human beings that would have any knowledge of this particular incident lessens with each year,” he said.

Anyone with information can contact police at 705-326-3536.

By Frank Matys, Orillia Today

The Freedom Tour

Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:52:38 GMT

The Freedom Tour (2008) is a powerful documentary that has been raising awareness about institutions both nationally and internationally.

The film documents the incredible journey of 16 self-advocates and friends who travelled across the Prairie Provinces to raise awareness about life in an institution. The documentary portrays compelling stories told by survivors of institutions who had moved into communities across the Prairies. Produced in partnership with the National Film Board, The Freedom Tour is unique in that People First members were involved in all aspects of the film-making process - from development to the big screen.

Video by: People First of Canad a

People First of Canada is the national voice for people who have been labeled with an intellectual disability. We are about rights – human rights, citizenship rights, accommodations rights and language rights. The right to freedom, choice and equality for all.

HRC not among properties province is trying to sell

Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:47:50 GMT

By: Dave Dawson, Barrie Today .com

The province announced last week it is selling off hundreds of vacant surplus properties in a bid to create more affordable housing and long-term care spaces, while saving lots of money.

Unfortunately, the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) property in Orillia is not on the list – yet – nor are there any properties in Barrie or elsewhere in Simcoe County.

Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop told OrilliaMatters the HRC property was the first thing that came to mind when she learned of her government’s plan.

“Believe me, when I heard about this, all I could think of was the HRC,” said Dunlop. “People have been begging for that property.”

Dunlop said the province plans to sell 486 vacant/unused properties by 2022. The first wave of the program, announced last week, included 243 properties.

“I was really hoping the HRC would be on the list, but, at least right now, it’s not,” said Dunlop.

She said she has reached out to the Ministry of Government Services to find out why and to see when it might be made available.

When MPPs were briefed on the new initiative, officials used a long-abandoned OPP detachment in Bracebridge as an example of the type of property targeted in the first wave.

“My understanding is it’s about readiness for sale,” said Dunlop, who noted that property north of Orillia has been vacant for almost a decade.

During that time, the government has paid for maintenance, kept the furnace running in the winter to ensure pipes don’t freeze and looked after other costs.

“The cost for all that, on that one building, has been about $1.5 million,” said Dunlop.

While the cost for maintenance of the sprawling HRC property would be exponentially higher, it is a more complicated piece of property.

While many of the buildings on the picturesque lakeside site have been abandoned since the province shuttered the facility in 2009, the OPP has repurposed some of the buildings and there is also a courthouse on the site.

Despite those factors, Dunlop said she will push the merits of selling the property.

“I do think it’s a good idea,” she said. “It would be amazing for our area, for economic development of the community. I know there are a lot of interested groups. The Huronia Cultural Campus (HCC) has been doing a lot of work to try to obtain the property.”

That group is hoping to transform the former HRC property into the Huronia Cultural Campus, a vision first advocated by renowned artist Charles Pachter, who now calls Orillia home.

First envisioned as a centre for innovation and art, the idea has expanded and matured and attracted the support of business and cultural leaders, from Orillia and farther afield.

Their vision has increased; they believe the site could house an outdoor performance space, sculpture gardens, live/work space for artists and housing for retired artists, and down the road, galleries, a Canadian Folk Music Hall of Fame, conference spaces, and potentially even a culinary institute.

Fred Larsen, chair of the HCC, said he was not surprised the property did not make the list. But he remains hopeful the HCC can, eventually, obtain the coveted property.

"After four years of talks, the vision remains alive and well," said Larsen. "We are still very interested in the property and still think it could be a jewel. What we proposed is still viable."

Larsen and other HCC champions met in the fall with Dunlop and Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MPP Doug Downey. He believes the politicians understand the HCC vision and are willing to help.

"The next step is to connect with the 'new' Orillia city council and we're hoping, early in 2019, to set up a meeting with Bill Walker, the Minister of Government and Consumer Services.

"We have always known this is a long-term process," said Larsen.

It has certainly been that.

The previous Liberal government spearheaded a public consultation process on the property in 2016; it focused on the best use of the surplus land.

The report, released in 2017, gave a concise snapshot of the property, which comprises about 260 acres of government-owned and managed land that skirts Lake Simcoe.

From 1876 to 2009, it was the site of the HRC and a facility for developmentally delayed adults.

Since then, some pockets of the property have been used as a courthouse, public health lab and the site of OPP training facilities and trainee residences.

About 175 acres of the provincial land is not being used. But much of it may never be used.

The report says about 132 of the 175 acres is comprised of wetlands and should be under permanent protection. The report also concluded the property should remain in the public domain, should be accessible year-round and should somehow recognize the pain of the HRC residents through a memorial.

Those factors make the property more challenging.

The press release from the provincial Progressive Conservative government says the first phase of their plan to sell surplus properties and cut tape could generate up to $135 million in revenue over four years.

"Ontario currently has hundreds of vacant surplus properties across the province, costing the government millions of tax dollars a year to maintain," said Bill Walker, Minister of Government and Consumer Services. "Our plan is about working harder, smarter and more efficiently so we can reduce costs, generate much needed revenue and make life better for the people of Ontario."

The release says the new plan will more easily identify which properties could be used for affordable housing and long-term care projects. Additional government departments and levels of government can also benefit from reduced red tape so that identified properties can be efficiently put back to productive use in communities across Ontario.

HRC Memorial Monument Revealed

Sun, 28 Oct 2018 13:06:18 GMT

In the fall of 2018, members of Remember Every Name gathered at Signature Memorials in Orillia with the invitation from Steve Sanderson who is working with survivors and artist Hilary Clark Cole on the memorial monument. There was an unveiling of the miniature model (maquette) and all were delighted with the design. The group decided on black granite for the two towers representing the walls of the institution.

A Message from Survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 19:01:37 GMT

The Huronia Regional Centre survivors who lead the advocacy group Remember Every Name reflect on the day (March 31) that Ontario's largest and oldest institution for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities closed its doors. They also discuss their annual Mother's Day Memorial and Procession and invite you to attend.

Join the Remember Every Name Facebook Group for regular updates.

Memories of the Ontario Hospital School, Orillia

Sat, 23 Dec 2017 19:33:47 GMT

Warning: This video includes disturbing content concerning eugenics, institutional abuse and neglect, rape, restraint and seclusion and death.

Carrieanne Tompkins was the fourth and final member of her family to be institutionalised at the Ontario Hospital School, Orillia aka the Huronia Regional Centre. In this video Carrieanne tells her story from the grounds of the facility where she spent nearly a decade of her life. This video includes historical images of the Ontario Hospital School, Orillia as well as photographs of Carrieanne and her family, images from the photo essay Christmas In Purgatory and stock footage from several sources.

For more information on the Huronia Regional Centre visit the Remember Every Name Facebook group at or the A Hell On Earth Facebook page .

An Open Letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne, Patrick Brown and Andrea Horwath

Sun, 26 Nov 2017 19:52:33 GMT

We wrote to you all on October 31, and again on November 6, 2017, about problems at the Huronia Regional Centre cemetery that have been building since we discovered sewage pipes through the burials in July 2015.  In a brief letter we received on November 15 (not copied to the other parties), Premier Wynne again asked MCSS to respond – the very people who have created and worsened the problems that concern us.

We received another very unsatisfactory and frustrating reply on November 30 from Rupert Gordon, Interim ADM of Developmental Services, MCSS.

When will the Premier realize that the people working for the ministry which perpetuated the neglect and abuse at Huronia Regional Centre – for which she apologized – have not learned from past mistakes?

MCSS should inform this ADM that his staff, Christine Kuepfer, did not “engage with” us. She sent a series of disrespectful messages, in which she argued with the facts, avoided addressing our concerns and accused us of making false claims.

MCSS should know that this ADM’s predecessor, Karen Chan, chaired a July 6, 2016 meeting with us in an extremely disrespectful manner: making faces and rude gestures to survivors (in the form of eye-rolling as well as using the “time-out” hand sign to Astero Pastali while survivors were asking questions and expressing legitimate concerns and frustration); and denying important disability-related accommodations that had been repeatedly requested. In fact, when members of our group asked at that meeting: why documents had not been made available ahead of time; why we had not been consulted in advance about the agenda; and why our requests to meet at the cemetery had been refused (where they could have shown us concretely what they were referring to in the report), the reply from ministry staff was to defend the decision to not meet these access needs, because they knew better than we did what would be most helpful to us.

What this ADM calls “consulting” has actually been insulting to survivors, which is re-traumatizing and only reinforces distrust of our government. 

 It is a complete misrepresentation for this ADM to say, “the government has strived to remain open and transparent” with us. If that were true, we would have had no reason to keep seeking answers – ever since July 2015. Despite repeated reminders, the Premier has never responded to a letter of concern from one of the survivors, Cindy Scott, initially sent in July 2015.

We want to know if the Premier really does care about the people to whom she apologized?

We see the MCSS facelift at the cemetery as a convoluted attempt to continue the government cover-up of the sewage system, which goes right through the middle of the burial area.

MCSS has paid Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants (TMHC) to conduct a series of investigations about the HRC cemetery. The MCSS contention that graves were not disturbed is contradicted by those reports. This unsubstantiated theory relies on cursory information in the TMHC Spring 2016 report which conflicts with the more thorough March and September 2015 TMHC report findings.

TMHC’s overall evidence raises significant doubts that there ever was a western expansion or a road between rows 25 and 26; that the sewage system was installed in the 1930s; and that no graves were disturbed. TMHC did some initial "ground-truthing" because they said GPR did not clearly show graves. When cedar slabs and bone fragments were found where it appears the pipe would cross the edge of the burial area, it was too quickly dismissed as animal bone. Then in July 2016 when we asked the crucial question, “can you say with 100% certainty that no burials were disturbed by the septic infrastructure” – the answer from Holly Martelle was “no”. Why then, for such a serious matter, would TMHC recommend that no further ground truthing was necessary?

TMHC included one page from a Dearden Stanton engineering study, while hiding what was most important to us - the actual "utility locate" done by Terra Discovery. When all 3 reports are considered, we see that the MCSS assumptions are unscientific and inconsistent. New evidence we have obtained from aerial photos raises further doubts.  This ADM has perpetuated deception, saying that MCSS “almost entirely” followed our recommendations about cemetery work.

Has he not seen the long chain of messages in which we explained that MCSS is ignoring our MOST IMPORTANT recommendations?  

MCSS keeps ignoring 3 KEY Remember Every Name recommendations, which arise from their own commissioned TMHC reports:

1. MCSS has totally backed down on their 2015 promise to replace about 400 numbered stones with properly named and dated individual makers.

TMHC’s subsequent research shows that MCSS does know who is buried in those graves.
The government has allowed several families to put personal markers there.

Are those favoured families the ones the ADM now says MCSS consulted?
Why was this important part of the plan omitted? We want MCSS to accord the same respect to all the other people’s graves in that area of the cemetery, as promised.

 2. We have withdrawn our earlier suggestion about row end markers for the large unmarked section of burials. We shared this idea in February 2015 during a preliminary discussion of design concepts, but have had no further discussion with MCSS or input into any plans beyond that initial meeting. We asked that the plan for row end markers be stopped once we found out that MCSS knows that names cannot be accurately inscribed on them.

TMHC’s September 2015 research (attached) told MCSS that the location of a great many people’s graves remains unknown:

21 people’s burial numbers appear in 2 or more rows (p. 90)
burial numbers appear more than once on existing markers in the cemetery (p. 37)
43 people listed on page 93, and 32 people listed on page 99 of the report, are buried somewhere in the cemetery, but no one knows where.
TMHC found many errors in the institution records (p. 111-112).
Since people said to be buried there were actually buried elsewhere, they would also expect to find that people said to be buried elsewhere were actually buried in the institution cemetery. However, MCSS did not ask TMHC to check for those errors.
TMHC provided evidence that “page(s)” of names were missing from institutional lists of deaths (p. 59).
TMHC said "there is good evidence of the use of the cemetery by 1899 but very little firm documentation of internments prior to that time". Thus "the date of the opening of the cemetery remains in question" (p. 112).

We were initially told that individual burial markers throughout the whole of the cemetery would be impossible because the existing drawings are not to scale, and GPR is not reliable enough for this purpose. Due to these reasons and the above listed uncertainties we no longer support the idea of end row markers and it is clear to us that the spacing MCSS proposes between row end markers has no basis in fact.

3. MCSS is ignoring our request that they consult with survivors about the wording on the cemetery plaques, and we still have no information about what is being considered. 

We want the information provided to the public to be factual and truthful about people being disrespected in life and in death.

Survivors who are still alive today also want an opportunity to create something permanent - to honour the memory of those who died, as well as to restore a sense of connection for lost relatives - for all future generations to come. It will be a small part towards healing from the damage done when people were separated from families and forced to live at HRC.

That is why we secured leftover class action funds so that survivors could collaborate with a trusted professional artist to design, fabricate and install a cemetery memorial: “Survivors Commemorate Lives Lived at Huronia Regional Centre”.

We require government permission to install it at the cemetery and so we are asking for the Premier’s word that MCSS will not block that from happening, and that other ministries will be willing to work with us.  

We must also note that rather than listening and responding to our request to fully stop the plan for row end markers, since we said we were horrified that they could disturb graves, MCSS has now apparently changed the design. The ADM’s recent letter says that row end markers will now be placed on top of the recently installed sidewalk, instead of beside it. However, MCSS specifications showed that the base of each row end marker was 650 mm from front to back. MCSS designed the sidewalks to be 1500 mm wide in some places and 1900 mm wide in others. It is confusing that the ADM just wrote that the pathways “provide increased accessibility to the cemetery,” when this would leave just 850 to 1250 mm for passage beside the row end markers, in contravention of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act which requires paths that are 1500 mm wide.

Again, we ask that all work at the HRC cemetery stop and that real consultation with Remember Every Name begin. 

Respectfully,

Debbie Vernon - Communication Coordinator Remember Every Name

Unanswered Letters

Tue, 29 Aug 2017 18:41:53 GMT

Multiple times Cindy Scott, a member of the Remember Every Name group has sent the following letter to the Premier, Kathleen Wynne, with no answers to this date.

Attempt 1 - July 25, 2015

Attempt 2 - August 29, 2017

Today I would like to talk about Remember Every Name and the g raveyard at the old Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia. I lived there when I was young.

There's people who live in Orillia and other places I think people that have lost their loved ones are going to try to find them and they need to see them in the proper names. It would be nice if people who know something would come forward. People of the staff need to come forward.

Why has nobody talked about i t or told us what really happened to the missing gravestones (numbers)? I think people don't want the truth they just want to make excuses. There's gonna be a lot of people questioning, well why didn't you do this a long time ago? Why would it be allowed to put pipes through a graveyard? Just because it happened a long time ago doesn't make it ok.

Jerry is an expert and we need someone who really knows what they are doing to help us. He is a good expert. Remember Every Name needs Jerry and the help of experts who knows exactly where to look through. I don't know why did they tell us to go ahead and do the fence without permission to do the gravestones. I can not trust the company (Timmins Martelle) who was working with the government because they don't speak the truth. Update, August 2017: Jerry Passed away suddenly in March 2017, his pro bono offer to help investigate was refused, correspondence between Jerry Melbye and MCSS, 2016 .

It's just upsetting me and other people for their loved ones because its really awful to have no names and it's just a number. This will be fixed because that is just the right thing to do. Update, August 2017: MCSS has now rescinded the commitment to put names and dates of birth and death on the burials that have death on the burials that have numbered stones numbered stones remaining. And this is what should be done at Lakeshore Psych Lakeshore Psychiatric Cemetery too (in Toronto at Evans and Horner). What I am upset about now is the whole area where there is nothing: just blank, no names, nothing. That makes me mad, sad, upsetting, shaking my head. Why is this? Why people don't care about people who were labelled, to just dump them? It makes me wonder WHY?

Just when we thought it could not get any worse, we have now figured out that there are pipes there? Two pipes? Sewage pipes? The water from 65 years could have washed through the dirt and moved where people are supposed to be. We want to figure out how they got the pipes in the ground? We need to figure this out? Did they move people? We have the maps but they got really mixed up and the maps could be wrong. We still don't have the answers yet that we need.

I have a right to know exactly what happened. I want to know and why. There has got to be a reason. I think the reason is that they just don't care. All the way around it feels like something is not right. I have a bad feeling that something is not right. I know for a fact that something is not right. I'm hoping that Jerry will find out what the real story is. What's the truth coming out? The truth is going to come out sooner or later and people need to find out.

Every survivor has a right to know about the graveyard. People all around the world need to listen to our stories: all us the survivors, listen to us. We know what we are talking about. We survived.

We want to invite you, Kathleen and anybody else, to come to the graveyard and tell us what you think about it and what you think should be done? I look forward to hearing from you.

Cindy Scott, Orillia, with Remember Every Name

The Questions Continue

Fri, 25 Aug 2017 19:21:44 GMT

The Ontario government is proceeding with plans for a facelift at the institution cemetery, this Fall.

“The government isn’t listening. They have left us out.”

– Harold Dougall (survivor)

Remember Every Name cannot support the current plan, and we want full disclosure by the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) of documents that have not been made public.

MCSS has told the media they will put names on markers at the end of each burial row. It seems they would do this even though their commissioned report shows that

they do not know who is buried in some rows. Last year, they said they would replace the numbered stones with people’s names. Their new plan won’t do this. Why?

“It’s not going to be perfect, but we need it to be the truth.”

– Cindy Scott (survivor)

MCSS is stating that exactly 1379 people are buried here. We know - from seeing historical documents – that this is wrong. For example, one history of the HRC cemetery states – “There are 571 marked graves and an estimated 1,440 unmarked graves.” (total = 2021) The large stone memorial marker now in the cemetery states that there are more than 2000 people buried there. Staff who maintained the cemetery until 2009 have confirmed this.

What We Do Know:

There are more bodies here than the government will admit.
The government has not determined where all the bodies are.
The current memorial marker says 1887-1971, and the MCSS website lists the first burial in 1893, but the website has recently changed to say the cemetery opened in 1899. Why? Where are people buried who died between 1876 to 1899?
At one point, the government removed 800 or more gravestones.
MCSS has never provided an explanation for this desecration.
In the 1980’s, when some of the numbered gravestones (fewer than 200) were found turned upside down having been used as paving stones, they were not returned to their proper places. Why? What happened to all the other stones?
The studies the government paid for are incomplete. For example, a company was paid to use ground penetrating radar (GPR) to investigate some areas, but did not include the whole cemetery. Their findings were: There are a “number of graves ... not mapped or marked.” That “trench burials ... during major epidemics (measles, diphtheria, typhoid fever and syphilis)” were possible. Some areas are “probable burial shafts” and “potential for grave shafts” – but with no certainty.
The report concluded that “ground truthing” (carefully digging test trenches at regular intervals by hand) was the only way to be certain what is in the ground, yet not a blade of grass was moved.
The government refused multiple offers from noted Canadian forensic anthropologist Dr. Jerry Melbye (recently deceased) to provide this service, and his vast expertise, free of charge. Read the request letter here written by Dr. Jerry Melbye.
There are septic tanks in the section of the cemetery that opened in 1953.
There is evidence that the government installed this septic system in 1952.
A sewage pipe enters the tanks from the south; and appears to have been dug right through the area of earlier burials.
Government maps from 1936 and 1941 show no evidence that a sewage pipe was in place then, and show no wider space between rows for a laneway where a sewage pipe could avoid disturbing burials. This is contrary to the theory put forth in the government’s report that the septic installation happened in the 1930’s, along with an expansion that we can find no evidence of.

The photo above - from the government report - shows the 1941 HRC cemetery map (blue area) super-imposed on a more recent aerial photo. The map shows tight, evenly spaced rows of graves. This map does not show any laneway space where the government says “a utility pipe was installed”. (Notes have been added to show the sewage system in question.)

So far, no government document has shown us the exact location of the sewage system pipe or proven when it was installed. GPR data should clearly show large sewage pipes such as those that enter these septic tanks, yet the government report has only drawn dotted lines on top of photos – showing where they ‘think’ the pipes are.

Sewage flowing through a cemetery is already disturbing, but the facts and discrepancies that are not being addressed have not reassured us that no graves were disturbed.

What We Don’t Know:

The government was required to produce all documents pertaining to HRC operations (from 1945 to 2009) to the court; now posted on-line.

However, http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/programs/developmental/huronia_records_instructions.aspx shows only 8 documents pertaining to the cemetery – 5 are recent photos and 3 are recent emails. Where are all the other documents? What Is being hidden? Horrible rumours will circulate as long as information is withheld.

Survivors continue to speak out:

"The HRC Cemetery is sacred ground that has been desecrated by a septic system through it. The people laid to rest there can't speak but some of us survivors can."

– Betty Bond

“I’m worried the names will be wrong.”

– Marie Slark

"We want the people buried there to be respected and not be forgotten."

– Carrieanne Ford

It would not be right to proceed with the facelift at the cemetery – without correct information to mark who is buried where - until the facts are known.

People in the Orillia area and former staff members can help:

Does anyone have more information about the septic system?
Can anyone confirm that it was installed in 1952-53? It may have been in use until about 1974.
Those who witnessed the burials – until 1971 - might know more.
Who knows why the memorial marker - erected in 1989 - states more than 2000 people are buried here?
Can anyone tell survivors how those old misplaced gravestones came to be found and returned – around 1990?
What other important questions need to be asked?

Community Living Ontario - On Huronia

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 18:57:12 GMT

What truths remain beneath the surface?

The improvements to Huronia Regional Centre cemetery that will take place this summer without recent input from the survivors who lived at Huronia will be another example of neglect and abuse committed against them by the government.

That's how Remember Every Name representative Debbie Vernonand Marilyn Dolmage (the litigation guardian who supported the Huronia class action’s lead plaintiffs Pat Seth and Marie Slark) reacted earlier this week after receiving a letter and site plan from the Ministry of Community and Social Services.

Remember Every Name is a committee group of Huronia Regional Centre survivors and community members. For the past two years, Remember Every Name has been concerned that graves were disturbed when a sewage pipe was dug through the middle of the cemetery’s burial area.

Vernon and Dolmage believe the improvements are an attempt by the government to cover up what has taken place at the cemetery.

“Survivors will be extremely distraught. Far from closure, this is opening all the wounds,” said Dolmage.

In the letter from ministry Director Christine Kuepfer dated July 21st, Vernon was advised that the work will begin this summer and wrap up by the fall, and will include the instillation of paths, row end markers and benches.

The letter went on to thank Remember Every Name “for providing the valuable recommendations on which the Site Plan is based,” and stated that the government “remains committed to honouring and protecting the memory of all former residents, helping tell their stories and ensuring that the lessons of this time are not lost.”

Click here to read the letter to Remember Every Name and click here to read a similar letter addressed to Community Living Ontario Chief Executive Officer Chris Beesley.

Dolmage and Vernon have major concerns with the site plan, which went out for tender this week. Click here to view it.

In July of 2015, Remember Every Name began to ask questions when an archeology report left out any consideration of septic tanks in the cemetery. In a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne, the group called for an investigation into the exact location of the pipe and whether graves were disturbed.

Representatives from Remember Every Name fear that as many as 150 graves were disturbed when a sewage system was installed in 1952, leading from farmhouses to tanks in the southwest corner of the cemetery. Vernon said locating company Terra Discovery has confirmed that the pipe is in fact a sewage pipe. She has attempted to obtain a copy of a report to determine the exact location of the pipe, without success.

Dolmage noted that the new plan calls for markers to indicate the ends of 32 rows of either unmarked graves or graves marked with registration numbers for some of the former residents that are buried there. However, last year the Ministry gave Remember Every Name a report showing that 31 rows were confirmed using ground-penetrating radar. Click here to read the report.

She also pointed out the 2016 report referenced a wide space between rows 24 and 25, much wider than anywhere else with no burials. During a meeting between the Ministry of Community and Social Services and Remember Every Name last July, ministry officials asserted that the pipe went under an old laneway located between rows 24 and 25 and maintained that no graves had been disturbed. A wide space between the two rows is not indicated on the site plan provided this week.

“Right in the spot where they told us the pipe was and where this laneway was, there is now going to be a row end marker showing a row of graves…So, a whole row of people has materialized. How can you believe anything?” said Dolmage. “This site plan is an attempt to make it look like a very orderly cemetery, which it was not.”

Dolmage also pointed out that the site plan calls for a portion of sidewalk to jog out further south than the rest, speculating that the contractor who will undertake the work won’t have to excavate where Remember Every Name believes the sewer pipe is located.

“It looks like they propose to write names on the 32 row end markers on that side, a list which can only be fabricated based on what they’ve told us,” said Dolmage.

Vernon and Dolmage said ministry officials told them they didn’t know who was buried in each row. They believe the ministry’s motive behind the improvements is to reassure the people of Orillia that “‘We’re being respectful, we’re doing what we need to do here.’”

While the plan calls for markers and other items to beautify the cemetery, it does not include an area for a memorial that survivors want to have designed, commissioned and installed at the site.

Vernon said Remember Every Name refused to consider a draft cemetery design plan last year because they were so frustrated when the ministry would not - first - answer their questions about the government report regarding the septic system.

There has been no contact from the Ministry of Community and Social Services with representatives from Remember Every Name in more than a year.

"[The government] has just jumped way ahead,’” said Dolmage. “What the survivors have said all along is ‘Nothing about us without us. Don’t make this plan without involving to us.’”

“We won’t be any part of this,” said Vernon, bluntly. “They’ve already told us what they’re doing and that’s it. We have no further input.”

Still, she sees the news of the cemetery improvements as an opportunity for others to assist Remember Every Name.

“I think survivors are feeling alone on all of this, so if there are people out there that will rally behind us and help us let the truth be known. We need help.”

Remember Every Name and its allies intend on meeting soon to determine what steps to take moving forward, including the erection of a memorial on the cemetery site.

Ron Laroche, Community Living Ontario

Recommendations for unused Huronia land released

The Province of Ontario has released a summary of consultations (click here to read it) with various groups about what should become of 175 acres of currently-unused land at the site of the former Huronia Regional Centre. Lura Consulting, an independent facilitator and consultation specialist, was hired to conduct the consultations and to prepare the report.

In operation since 1876, Huronia Regional Centre was closed in 2009. The other 85 acres on the 260-acre site now house an Ontario Provincial Police training facility, a courthouse, a public health lab, and formerly an office for the Ontario Disability Support Program.

The consultations were conducted over an eight-month period from August 2016 until April 2017, and included input from Community Living Ontario. Survivors of Huronia and their families, the Ontario Provincial Police, and proponents for the creation of an arts and culture hub called the Huronia Cultural Campus were among the respondents.

Concerned members of the public gave their recommendations during two public meetings hosted by Lura Consulting on March 30th. There were 120 attendees between the two sessions and 29 speakers. A total of 690 stakeholder groups and members of the public also submitted their ideas via an online survey, while three people provided feedback during one-on-one interviews. Another 25 people chose to email their suggestions.

Broadly speaking, all groups agreed that the land should be inclusive and accessible, open year-round, and recognize the history of institutionalization in Ontario and the accomplishments of people who have an intellectual disability. Many also agreed that the surplus land should have a positive economic impact, be self-sustaining and serve as an area for reflection and education.

With regard to preserving what took place at Huronia Regional Centre, all agreed that new developments should respect those who suffered abuse and neglect there and at the other now closed provincially-run institutions, and that any profits should go directly to survivors.

Survivors and their allies have requested that all remaining buildings from the Huronia Regional Centre be demolished, and that a memorial should be erected there instead.

“The presence of the buildings acts as a reminder to former residents of the suffering they endured,” reads the consultation. Others suggested the buildings should be used to house educational art exhibits.

Part of the site, stakeholders say, could be used for public parks, playgrounds, art installations, dog parks, accessible cottages, performance centres, affordable housing, or a summer camp for children who have a disability, among other suggestions.

The Huronia Cultural Campus Foundation submitted a proposal for the site to be turned into a cultural hub, which many participants and organizations supported. The proposal would include a partnership with post-secondary schools to develop a creative computer and information technology learning and development hub. The foundation also suggested dedicating a portion of the land to celebrating food culture with festivals, workshops, and farms.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Provincial Police wants to use some of the land, including the in-use portion and part of the waterfront, for a new Orillia detachment. The organization also believes that, since it already uses the land for services, the government should allocate the property to the police force.

As for ownership of the land, the consultation found that most want it to remain in the public domain—that the Province should retain ownership or transfer it to the City of Orillia or Huronia Cultural Campus Foundation. In their view, it should not be sold to private interests.

When it comes to the final decision-making process, Huronia survivors believe they should have the final word, and it was suggested that a panel of former residents make recommendations based on the consultations to ensure their voices are heard.

The Government of Ontario will now consider all feedback received as a result of the consultations as it decides what to do with the surplus land. Updates are to be posted on the Ontario.ca and Infrastructureontario.ca websites.

Daniel Share-Strom, Community Living Ontario

Dear Honourable Kathleen Wynne

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 18:43:34 GMT

Dear Honourable Kathleen Wynne,

On December 9, 2013 you apologized to people who lived and survived government run provincial institutions. You said “one of a government's foremost responsibilities is to care for its people, to make sure they are protected and safe. And therein lies a basic trust between the state and the people. It is on that foundation of trust that everything else is built: our sense of self, our sense of community, our sense of purpose. And when that trust is broken with any one of us, we all lose something - we are all diminished.”

On July 25, 2017 survivors and their supporters with Remember Every Name received a letter from the Ontario government stating it is proceeding with plans to do a superficial facelift to the Huronia Regional Cemetery in the fall. It says MCSS “has been working with Remember Every Name for some time now on how to beautify the Huronia Regional Centre cemetery to ensure that it is maintained in a thoughtful and respectful manner that will preserve the site’s important historical legacy and the memory of those interred there.” They thanked REN for providing the valuable recommendations on which the Site Plan is based.

We want to make it clear to you, there was no “consultation” or partnership or respect from the Ministry of Community and Social Services. The survivors of HRC wanted a voice in these plans but we were not asked to be involved when the government contracted a consultant to draw up the concept or design of the HRC Cemetery. We have asked for full disclosure and transparency from MCSS of documents that have not been made public and for which our requests have been repeatedly denied.

The letter we received is an insult to survivors and we are asking for your help to put a halt to the government proceeding with their plans to beautify the Huronia Regional Centre until our goal of discovering and communicating the truth of how people were carelessly interred there and if graves were disturbed when a septic system was installed through the cemetery in 1952. We owe that to to the survivors as part of truth and healing, to the ones laid to rest there, to their families who seek them out and to society as a whole. The survivors of HRC want a voice in these plans. They also want full disclosure from the Ministry of Community and Social Services of documents that have not been made public.

Survivors are starting to think your apology is becoming hollow words because of the re actions from the government which has made us all feel disrespected and diminished. We remain hopeful you will do the right thing by helping us.

Respectfully yours.

An Invitation to the "Lost But Not Forgotten" Memorial

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 18:52:18 GMT

Huronia Regional Centre survivors Harold Dougall and Cindy Scott discuss the experience of being survivors of institutional abuse and invite you to attend the second annual Lost But Not Forgotten: HRC Survivors Memorial Procession on Mother's Day (May 14) 2017 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the former Huronia Regional Centre cemetery in Orillia, Ontario.

Cindy Scott: Huronia Regional Centre Survivor

Thu, 08 Sep 2016 18:46:41 GMT

Part 1

Part 2

Cindy Scott, institutional survivor and activist, shares her memories of the Huronia Regional Centre and discusses the future of the institution cemetery and buildings.

For more information on the institution and the cemetery and to get involved visit the Remember Every Name Facebook group .

Judge rules on plaintff-lawyer rift in Huronia lawsuit

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 19:31:16 GMT

To fix the “very awkward” rift between the plaintiffs and their own lawyers in the Huronia institution lawsuit, a Superior Court judge came up with a creative solution Wednesday — hire another lawyer.

The ruling from Justice Paul Perell pertained to a prolonged disagreement over how nearly $5 million of settlement money — part of the $35-million Huronia agreement reached in the fall of 2013 — will be distributed in the coming months. Perell ruled that another lawyer be hired to help the plaintiffs negotiate the rollout of this money with the Crown and the counsel that spearheaded the historic class action lawsuit.

“I think it provides them with a voice, and it deals with your conflict problem, and it allows this process to move forward,” Perell said during a hearing in an Osgoode Hall courtroom Wednesday morning.

The Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia was an institution for people with developmental disabilities, part of a network of such facilities that operated for more than a century. People who lived at Huronia and other institutions have long insisted that abuse and neglect were rampant.

Three years ago, days before a class action lawsuit for hundreds of Huronia residents went to trial, the government reached a settlement with the survivors’ lawyers: Kirk Baert and Jody Brown from the Koskie Minsky law firm. The agreement was worth $35 million and individual claimants were to receive up to $42,000 each for the abuses they suffered at Huronia.

After the individual payments were doled out in the Huronia case, the agreement stipulated that up to $5 million of the settlement money — officially called “Schedule D” funds — would be used to finance program to educate the public about Huronia and to fund organizations that help people with developmental disabilities.

Marilyn Dolmage and her husband Jim helped start the class action lawsuit with former Huronia residents Marie Slark and Patricia Seth. Seth and Slark were appointed as the plaintiffs to represent all survivors in the case, while Dolmage and her husband were named litigation guardians to help them with the legal process.

The group has had concerns about how the Koskie Minsky lawyers have handled the suit since the settlement was reached in 2013, Dolmage said Wednesday. Speaking on behalf of the plaintiffs, Dolmage claimed in court Wednesday that the Koskie Minsky lawyers weren’t listening to their concerns that the Schedule D funds would be channeled to programs and organizations that don’t directly benefit former residents of Huronia.

“My opinion was that the Schedule D money belonged to survivors,” Seth told the Star after Wednesday’s hearing. “It was important to us. Our power was taken away by our own lawyers.”

Baert, one of the class members’ lawyers, said in court that it was his duty to represent the entire class of survivors, and it was in the interest of the survivors as a whole for the judge to “break this impasse” and order the beginning of the process where various groups can apply for some of the Schedule D funding.

“We can’t let the money simply sit there and not be given out,” Baert said. “We’ve had to come to you to ask that you break this logjam.”

Justice Perell agreed that the process for distribution should start, but ordered that a new lawyer be hired — with payment coming out of the Schedule D funds — to represent the plaintiffs in the negotiations over which groups should get the money.

Dolmage and the plaintiffs said they were happy with the result. “We don’t just have a voice (now), we’ve got help,” Dolmage said outside the courtroom.

Once Koskie Minsky sends out notices to a list of interested groups, there will be a four-month window to solicit applications for the money, Dolmage said.

The law firm earned more than $8 million from the settlement fund for their work on the case.

The case precipitated a slew of class action settlements that Koskie Minsky handled for survivors of other institutions in Ontario. In April, the government agreed to a $35.9 million agreement for former residents of 12 more institutions that was modeled on the Huronia settlement.

By Alex Ballingall, The Star

The gristle in the stew: revisiting the horrors of Huronia | CBC Radio

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:22:09 GMT

It was a place — and a past — that Patricia Seth and Marie Slark could have tried to forget. But they chose the harder route: to remember, and force those in power to face an ugly truth.

What happened at Huronia Regional Centre was the stuff of nightmares. Huronia was a government-run institution for children with developmental disabilities, located in Orillia, Ontario. It was shut down in 2009, after more than a century of operation.

Parents were told their children would be well taken care of, their special needs attended to. They were told that leaving their children in the institution's care was the right thing to do. But instead, children were neglected and abused.

Marie and Pat lived at Huronia from childhood into their young adult lives. In 2011, CBC's David Gutnick produced a documentary about the atrocities that took place at Huronia and reported on a class action lawsuit that Marie and Pat were filing against the province of Ontario.

A lot has happened since then and it's safe to say, that for Pat, Marie and their representatives, this story is still far from over. So, we wanted to do something a little different on this program, something that is rarely done: get an in-depth update on a doc.

Listen to the original full-length documentary

By CBC Radio · Posted: Jul 11, 2016 4:46 PM ET | Last Updated: July 27, 2016
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/docproject/the-gristle-in-the-stew-revisiting-the-horrors-of-huronia-1.3673553

Muskoka women’s Huronia Regional Centre experiences touch Alliston students

Tue, 07 Jun 2016 20:28:41 GMT

BRACEBRIDGE – When a stack of 50 letters were thumped on Bev Link’s dining room table, she didn’t know what to say.

She, Mable Lester and Betty Bond each picked one up and began to read.

Grade 9 students at Banting Memorial High School in Alliston wrote the letters to thank the three women for sharing their experiences at Huronia Regional Centre, an institution meant to be for children and adults with developmental delays.

“These children did a great job on these,” Link said after reading a few.

History teacher Kathy Hacon-Belcourt discovered the Muskokan story, Locked away and forgotten: Muskoka women share how they survived institutionalized childhood abuse, at just the right time. Her students were reading a book Keeper N’ Me by Richard Wagamese, about a boy who is taken into the foster care system and loses his identity.

She thought the Bracebridge women’s stories would be a perfect, real-life example of Canada’s sordid past of institutions. Her students were instantly moved.

“Their empathy was unbelievable. Some were teary-eyed,” said Hacon-Belcourt. “They all thought, my God, what would I do if I was in their shoes?”

In the letters, the students not only expressed their emotions, but also thanked the women for sharing their stories.

“I wrote this letter to say sorry,” wrote A.J. “Sorry that such things could happen without people knowing. Sorry a country I thought was so great could have been so horrific.”

The Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia closed in 2009, after more than 130 years of housing children, whose families, doctors and social workers claimed had developmental delays. As Link, 75, Lester, 78, and Bond, 62, can attest to, that wasn’t always the case.

Bond described it as a “dumping ground” for the Children’s Aid Society.

She was brought to the Huronia centre when she was four and a half years old, after being described as a “wild child” by her social worker. She spent the better part of her childhood behind barred windows and locked doors, without love or care. Lester and Link’s stories are very similar, although Link said she was abused more than others because she is native.

“As a first-generation Chinese-Canadian living in a fairly Caucasian region, I can relate to discrimination based solely on the colour of one’s skin, culture and appearance,” wrote Clare. “What I cannot understand is how people had the heart (or lack thereof) to follow through on personal prejudices through actions that can only be classified as crime, torture and a complete lack of human rights.”

Each of the women took turns reading parts of the letters aloud and tears ran freely down their cheeks.

“These letters are totally amazing,” said Bond. “They’re real tearjerkers. The empathy these young people have is unreal.”

The students encouraged the women to keep sharing their stories to prevent places like the Huronia Regional Centre from existing ever again.

“The horrors described … are ones that nobody should have to experience, but you pushed on and adapted,” wrote Erin. “That is what truly makes a hero.”

By Samantha Beattie, Bracebridge Examiner

Letters from High School Students to Survivors

Wed, 18 May 2016 20:05:18 GMT

After a Banting Memorial High School teacher , Kathy Hacon-Belcourt, read the story in the Muskoka newspaper article “Locked Away and Forgotten” written by Samantha Beattie and published on May 18, 2016, she wanted the three women to come and speak to her students of their life experiences living at HRC when they were children.

Betty Ann Bond, Bev Link and Debbie Vernon were invited to Banting Memorial High School to present to the Grade 9 students who were studying residential schools as part of their high school curriculum. A power point presentation with photographs of the institution were shown while Betty and Bev described what the living conditions were like.

They were well received and the students had many questions which they wrote to Betty, Bev and Mable where a total of 51 letters were received.

Locked away and forgotten: Muskoka women share how they survived institutionalized childhood abuse

Wed, 18 May 2016 18:20:47 GMT

Always known for her sweet tooth, Bev Link was once caught stealing candy from her teacher.

Her punishment was a time out.

In a straight jacket.

In the dark, damp, cold basement.

For two days.

Link can’t remember if she received food, or if anyone checked on her.

“I don’t think anyone did at all,” she said.

The Huronia Regional Centre, first called the Orillia Asylum for Idiots, was the institution where Link lived for most of her childhood.

From 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Link sewed in the mending room, labouring over cotton jumpsuits and straightjackets. Like all the children at Huronia, she was never paid for her work. If she made a mistake, staff slapped her sharply on the back of her head.

Other times staff used brooms to beat the children. One time a broom handle came down so hard on Link’s back it broke her shoulder, or she might’ve broken it while trying to twist out of a straightjacket.

At 75-years-old, Link finds it difficult to straighten out what abuse happened when and what came next, but that doesn’t mean she forgets.

She remembers staff being particularly heavy handed with her because she is Native.

“They’d called me Indian,” Link said. “I used to get pulled by the hair down the hall.”

In her Bracebridge apartment, on a damp day that makes her shoulder ache, Link sits at her dining room table. It’s a new piece of furniture where she loves to serve home-cooked food and talk with friends. The walls are brightened with Native art. A dream catcher greets visitors when they walk through the front door.

Beside Link is Betty Bond, 62, outspoken and headstrong. She rescues struggling wildlife, like the three baby racoons she’s caring for right now. She shows everyone pictures of them on her phone.

Across the table is Mabel Lester, 78, quiet and sweet who, near the end of the conversation, turns back to her colourful puzzle. She lives with Link in the apartment, an arrangement that has worked for decades.

All three women are survivors of Huronia. They’re family to one another. They’ve decided to speak out now, together, because they believe it’s important to document this part of Canadian history.

“We were silenced through no fault of our own,” said Bond. “We have a voice now and our stories need to be on the record so it never happens again.”

The Huronia Regional Centre closed in 2009, after more than 130 years of housing children, whose families, doctors and social workers claimed had developmental delays. As Link, Lester and Bond can attest to, that wasn’t always the case.

“It was a dumping ground for Children’s Aid,” said Bond. “There were a lot of us in there that could’ve had chances, but were just plopped there and forgotten.”

All three women spent their youngest years in foster care, going from home to home.

“I was called a wild child,” Bond said. “I didn’t know anything, and just from being so low and not realizing what I was doing, I caused disruption in foster homes.”

A social worker committed Bond to Huronia when she was nine and she stayed there for the next five and a half years. She never remembers being allowed outside, except for one time when staff brought her over to the on-site cemetery.

“We were shown the gravesites and told if we weren’t good little girls, we’d end up in there,” she said.

Link lived in Huronia for 11 years and Lester for 15. Both only remember seeing sunshine through barred windows.

Lester said she’d often be put in what was called the “side room” – a square closet with padded walls.

“We had to watch out because there were rats in there,” she said. Another time Lester was put in a straightjacket because she refused to go downstairs for breakfast. That time, however, she escaped.

“There was a hole in the front and I just went umph,” she said, demonstrating how she ripped it off, still triumphant all these years later. “It went straight to the floor.”

When Link, Lester and Bond were residents at Huronia in the 1960s and 70s, nearly 3,000 children were living there, reported the province. The towering brick building and out buildings (called cottages) were overcrowded, with dozens of children sleeping head to head on cots, dormitory style. They weren’t allowed any personal items, pictures, toys or treasures. Even their clothes belonged to the institution.

“The children would get up in the morning and were handed T-shirts and pairs of pants. At the end of the day they’d give them back,” said Vernon, who worked as a personal support worker at Huronia briefly in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s.

She witnessed systemic abuse, racism, neglect and discrimination.

“I remember the young women there going for appointments with doctors," she said. “They were being sterilized without knowing it, without giving their consent.”

If the children weren’t toiling over hard labour or in the odd class, they’d spend their time in the “playroom” – a square cell with only hard wooden benches lining the walls. There were no toys.

“Some kids would rock back and forth all day long because there was nothing to do,” said Link. When staff members were bored, they’d line children up, and force them to take off their underwear and parade around the playroom. “They’d make kids go down the hallway stark naked,” Link said. Or punch one another, or run back and forth, back and forth, to the amusement of staff, said Bond.

Once a year a Christmas tree was brought into the playroom and presents were heaped underneath. Dignitaries would walk through and admire the apparent warmth of Huronia. Afterwards everything would disappear. The children never received any of the presents.

“I don’t remember any happy events there,” Bond said. “I was so scared to go in the playroom I would sit there frozen. I didn’t want to be seen. We tried to hide, but we could never really hide.”

Another place for punishments was the "pipe room" – a narrow, dark, closet-sized space where children would be confined for 10 minutes, half an hour, or two hours. Nobody ever knew for certain how long his or her punishment would be. “The pipe room was hotter than hell,” said Bond. “There was a wooden door with scratch marks all over it, scratches from people trying to get out. “They didn’t just throw you in there. They locked you up with a big skeleton key.”

Like many Huronia residents, Link, Lester and Bond were eventually transferred to transition homes in Bracebridge and released from the institutional system in their 20s. They worked at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in housekeeping and laundry. That’s where Link and Lester stayed for close to 40 years, and Bond for 17.

“They weren’t beaten by the system,” said their close friend and advocate Debbie Vernon. “Once they were free, all three led successful lives.”

Now Vernon, a long with Link, Lester and Bond, is part of the group Remember Every Name that works to raise awareness about what happened at Huronia and find justice for survivors. Vernon got to know the three women when she helped them sift through their documents and file claims as part of a class action suit in 2013.

Ontario agreed on a $35-million settlement and formal apology, and promised to maintain the cemetery and create a registry of all those buried there. About 3,700 survivors were eligible to file a claim.

“As premier, and on behalf of all the people of Ontario, I am sorry for your pain, for your losses, and for the impact that these experiences must have had on your faith in this province, and in your government. I am sorry for what you and your loved ones experienced, and for the pain you carry to this day,” said Premier Kathleen Wynne as part of the formal apology read in the legislature on Dec. 9, 2013.

“And so we will protect the memory of all those who have suffered, help tell their stories and ensure that the lessons of this time are not lost.”

In 2012 the women went back to Huronia and walked the empty grounds.

The cemetery, where Bond was once told she would end up, is broken, incomplete.

Some gravestones bear the names of children and adults who died at Huronia. Most just have numbers indicating the order the bodies were buried in. Too many are unmarked. “Some gravestones were dug out and used as stepping stones or sidewalks to dormitories,” said Bond. “They were never replaced like they should’ve been, but at least they weren’t thrown out.”

This spring Remember Every Name raised concerns about an underground utility pipe that runs under the cemetery. They were worried it could have disturbed hundreds of graves when it was installed decades ago. In response, Infrastructure Ontario commissioned an archaeological firm, Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants, to do a non-intrusive ground study and records search of the cemetary. It found the utility pipe was installed before the cemetery was built in 1934 and no graves were disturbed. “The utility pipe was installed along the boundary of the cemetery at that time avoiding pre-existing burials, and the utility pipe was intentionally avoided when new burials were done after 1934,” said Infrastructure Ontario in a news release May 6.

The province plans to work with families and former residents over the next year to improve the cemetery. Some proposed projects include erecting an arched entranceway into the cemetery with a plaque or monument, creating a natural path through sections of the cemetery, establishing a garden area, and replacing the remaining numbered stones with named stones.

Still undecided is what will become of the empty Huronia Regional Centre. The province is considering making it into an arts and culture centre, a plan that saddens and disturbs survivors, said Vernon.

“Survivors want Huronia torn down because of what it symbolizes,” she said, “and what it symbolizes is a culture of fear and evil.”

In Link’s apartment there’s a framed picture of the three women holding their settlement cheques. They have their arms wrapped around one another and big grins on their faces. They, with the help of Vernon, are healing together.

“There are a lot of demons we have had to overcome to get where we are,” said Bond. “(Huronia) was a house of horrors, plain and simple.”

Source: News May 18, 2016 by Samantha Beattie Bracebridge Examiner

A Message From Harold Dougall, Huronia Regional Centre Survivor

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 15:42:28 GMT

Harold Dougall, a survivor of Orillia's Huronia Regional Centre, discusses deinstitutionalisation and the future of the HRC Cemetery. The "big square thing" refers to a number of markers set in a concrete pad. These were removed from their original place in the cemetery and used to pave pathways on the institution grounds. Edmonton, mentioned at 3:34, refers to the Michener Centre in Red Deer, Alberta. Michener is one of the last institutions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities still operating in Canada. Fore more information on Remember Every Name, contact us at remembereveryname@gmail.com or visit our Facebook group . A transcript of this video is available below.

Narration:

Huronia Regional Centre was an institution for people deemed to be intellectually and developmentally disabled that opened in 1876 as the Orillia Asylum for Idiots. By the time it closed in 2009 thousands of people had lived and died in Huronia. Residents endured atrocious living conditions and were used as forced labour in the operation of the institution. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse were impossible to escape. A cemetery on the former grounds contains an estimated 2,000 or more burials.

Harold:

All these numbers from all through there, numbers, not names. This is what I wanted to talk about, uh, interview me on this graveyard, cemetery and I want everybody to get this organized. Fences around it, brand new fences, finding the names, everybody that’s here, new gates on that place, change the word on the plaque up there and they did it. The big square thing sitting in front of the gate, they changed the name, I think, on that too. It’s a long time coming. We are the ones…going to be changing it, the whole system. The graveyard and the people…been in institutions. All the institutions are closed, except Edmonton, they wanted to keep it open and we’re fighting for that to close. They don’t know how, people think, “oh, they wanna, it’s a nice place”. It’s not. I was on the task force, closing all the institutions... Close it, get the people out of there. It’s too much misery, so I hope they listen to this and tell them, close the institutions down.

Narration:

Less than 600 of those interred at the cemetery have a named marker. More than 300 are buried with only a number to mark their resting place. The rest lay in unmarked graves. Want to get involved or find out more? If you are searching for a deceased relative, have any information about the HRC Cemetery, or are a survivor looking to connect, please contact us at remembereveryname@gmail.com or find us on Facebook.

Septic Infrastructure Desecrates Graves In Huronia Cemetery: Ontario Government Bandies Responsibility, Ignores Citizen Concern

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 18:36:34 GMT

BY STEFFANIE PETRONI, NORTHERN HOOT

“Every survivor has a right to know about the graveyard. People all around the world need to listen to our stories: all us, the survivors. Listen to us. We know what we are talking about. We survived.”

~Cindy Scott, Survivor of Huronia Regional Centre

After enduring years, often decades, of physical, sexual and psychological abuse over 2,000 ‘residents’ of the Huronia Regional Centre died there and were buried on site in ignoble graves. Most of these graves are unmarked or numbered. Only a few graves carry names. In life these people were deprived of the basic dignities associated with being human and in death their dignity is still withheld.

In 1876 Ontario opened its first institution for people with developmental disabilities on the outskirts of Orillia. The institution was then named Orillia Asylum for Idiots. Later it was called the Ontario Hospital School of Orillia and at the time of its closure in 2009, the facility was known as the Huronia Regional Centre.

In the 1970’s Huronia staff removed grave markers to build walkways and patios. In 1985, a chaplain made the horrifying discovery and collected as many tombstones that he could. Not knowing where they belonged the markers were eventually laid out as a cement pad in the cemetery (feature image above). But- if that wasn’t horrific enough, this past July a discovery was made that indicates during the 1950’s tombstones were removed and a sewage trench was laid through a section of the cemetery, carrying human waste and excrement past the final resting place of what could be up to 150 departed.

*****

In 2010, Marie Slark and Patricia Seth, former residents of Huronia, with the support of litigation guardians- Jim and Marilyn Dolmage, brought forward a class-action lawsuit against the Province of Ontario for a breach of its “fiduciary, statutory and common law duties to the class through the establishment, operation, and supervision of Huronia”. The application for the lawsuit also alleged that the Province’s “failure to care for and protect class members resulted in loss or injury suffered by them, including psychological trauma, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and exacerbation of existing mental disabilities”. This action was certified as a class proceeding on July 30th, 2010 and the settlement action was approved by the Superior Court of Justice on December 3, 2013.

The settlement includes a small remuneration to residents who were obligated to reopen old wounds to prove abuse in order to receive the pittance. Also, as part of the settlement, was a commitment by the provincial government to restore the cemetery and create a memorial site for those that died in the institution. Undertaking a memorial requires the government to identify the names of all residents who died there- a challenge that has proven to be an onerous, perhaps impossible task.

A second requirement of the agreement involved the replacement of a fence in the cemetery that had fallen into disrepair. The Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) commissioned Timmins Martelle Heritage Consulting (TMHC) to conduct an investigation that included: total station mapping to overlay old sketch maps; ground penetrating radar to find unmarked graves; and physical stripping of topsoil to establish the perimeter of the cemetery. It was during this procedure that three areas in the cemetery were identified and indicated on a map simply as ‘utilities’. Even more appalling was the discovery of bones and cedar planks near the area of disturbance.

A group of survivors, relatives of survivors and concerned citizens collectively known as Remember Every Name found the utility sites and to their horror discovered that ‘utilities’ referred to a sophisticated sewage infrastructure buried four feet in the ground- well within the depth of all known burials in the cemetery. This desecration appears to have happened in the early 1950’s as evidenced by a manhole cover inscribed with a ‘1952’ date.

Remember Every Name sent an open letter (attached below) to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office requesting an investigation into the matter. Paola DePaoli, a member of Remember Every Name, prepared an open letter to the Premier, stating, “It is curious that the ground penetrating radar survey has excluded the area where the pipes would be buried.”

DePaoli also states that Dr. Jerry Melbye –one of Canada’s most prominent Forensic Anthropologists and Forensic Expert for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, is willing to offer his pro bono services to the investigation of bone shards in the area of concern. DePaoli writes:

[Dr. Melbye] has advocated for the nameless for over 30 years, mostly in crime scenes involving human skeletal remains. He has worked on hundreds of cases in Canada and the U.S. Dr. Melbye has joined the efforts of the Remember Every Name group after learning that there are no government plans in place to determine the location of a great number of the victims buried in the HRC cemetery. Melbye has made an appeal to Garfield Dunlop, his local MPP for Simcoe North, and Premier Kathleen Wynne to allow his crew to investigate the two septic tanks and pipe system located in the middle of the HRC cemetery for burial disturbances and human remains. In order for these tanks to have been installed, burials must have been disinterred in the process. What happened to these burials? Where are the remains? These are questions that Melbye feels must be answered before the settlement between the government and the remaining survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre and government is finalized. “I feel I have been called upon to help in any way I can. These victims deserve respect. It’s my job, it’s just the right thing to do”, says Melbye.

On July 25th, 2015 Cindy Scott, a member of Remember Every Name and a Survivor of Huronia Regional Centre, sent an open letter (attached below) to Premier Wynne. She writes:

We have been trying to work with the government and we thought everyone was trying to do something right for these people who died. I really want to find a way to get this graveyard done properly: names and the bodies should be where they belong. I want names…so we can bring flowers and so everybody can know we have not forgotten about these people… Jerry is an expert and we need someone who really knows what they are doing to help us. He is a good expert. Remember Every Name need’s Jerry and the help of experts who knows exactly where to look through.

On July 27th, 2015 Premier Wynne replied to DePaoli via email (attached below) with a promise that the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS) would investigate the matter.

In speaking with Jim and Marilyn Dolmage, who both supported the primary litigants in the class action lawsuit against Huronia and also members of Remember Every Name, they explained that after growing impatient waiting for a reply from MGCS and receiving none, and hoping to be included or at least kept apprised of the investigation, on August 10th, 2015 Remember Every Name issued a letter (attached below) to the MGCS’s Minister, David Orazietti. Leah Dolmage, member of Remember Every name writes:

We are depending on your Ministry to take a fresh look – to ensure that the previous efforts are reviewed transparently, and our questions are answered now.

We appreciate that your Ministry relates to both the Archives of Ontario and the proper maintenance of cemeteries.

We asked the Premier to ensure:

An independent and professional assessment of the septic tanks and septic pipes in HRC cemetery.

An independent and professional assessment of the state of the graves that were disturbed by the installation of the above mentioned pipes.

An independent and professional assessment of what would be involved in decommissioning the septic system and removing the pipe that lies across graves.

We also requested that Remember Every Name and its supporters be able to select the independent contractor assigned the above tasks.

Dr Jerry Melbye will volunteer his considerable expertise, and work in full collaboration with that independent contractor.

On August 21st, 2015 Dr. Jerry Melbye sent a letter (attached below) to Minister David Orazietti, MGCS, reiterating his pro bono services to the investigation. Dr. Melbye writes:

I strongly believe that we all deserve basic human rights in life and in death, and if I can contribute my expertise to bring some peace to these victims as well as the survivors, then it’s something I must do. I’ve been an advocate for over 30 years for those individuals who cannot speak for themselves.

The cemetery can then to be reconstructed to show respect for the individuals that are laid to rest there. If disturbed burials are discovered during the excavation we may never be able to positively identify these individuals, but we will at least be able to right this terrible wrong and let them rest in peace. They suffered horribly throughout their lives and now because of the condition of their resting place, continue to suffer through death.

When the Northern Hoot spoke with the Dolmages last Wednesday, well over two months had passed since Premier Wynne directed the matter to MGCS. MGCS -or any other Ministry, did not contact Remember Every Name to follow up Wynne’s referral and as of last Wednesday neither did MGCS –or any other Ministry, reply to any letters/emails sent by Remember Every Name members. In speaking with MGCS last Wednesday it was confirmed that the letters/emails were received. However, Minister Orazietti’s office claimed that they were not the Ministry responsible for the investigation into the septic system installed in the Huronia cemetery.

MGCS is responsible for myriad consumer interests including the regulations of cemeteries as well as serving as the provinces guardian of archival records. These two points, as well as the promise from Wynne that MGCS would lead an investigation, have members of Remember Every Name confused and frustrated.

By the end of Thursday last week, MGCS had passed the inquiry from the Northern Hoot to the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure (MEDEI). (MEDEI provides oversight to IO. IO is currently investigating cemetery perimeters and a death registry in collaboration with MCSS). When asked by the Northern Hoot how the task of investigating the septic installment in Huronia cemetery was delegated to MEDEI when Premier Wynne stated the responsibility would lie with MGCS, a MEDEI spokesperson replied via email stating, “It was always our plan that this important issue be handled jointly by MEDEI and MCSS. The letter that was sent back [to DiPaoli] incorrectly identified MGCS as the Ministry responsible. This was an administrative error and we are sorry it occurred.”

By Friday of last week, Remember Every Name finally received a reply (attached below) from MEDEI Minister, Brad Duguid, to their letter first sent in July to MGCS. In speaking with MEDEI, a spokesperson stated that Dr. Melbye would also receive a reply before the end of the day, however as of today Dr. Melbye confirmed that he has not received a reply regarding his offer of services from any Ministry. It is not clear if these letters were forwarded by MGCS to MEDEI last week or if MEDEI had only just found some time to reply last Friday.

Given that IO -overseen by MEDEI, has already been involved with TMHC’s investigation which did not consider the sewage tanks and septic pipes, “perhaps even intentionally,” commented Marilyn, the Premier’s decision to involve MGCS seemed appropriate.

“We appreciated that the Premier asked a different Ministry to do further investigation,” stated Marilyn to the Northern Hoot. “Now that you caught Orazietti up, and his office had no answers it’s all going back to IO and MCSS. We think this new investigation is improper. They should not be involved in either the investigation or determining next steps.”

MEDEI assured the Northern Hoot last Friday that the investigation into the issue of septic infrastructure through the cemetery is underway. However it was confusing when the reply (attached below) from the Minister of MEDEI received by Remember Every Name last Friday indicated that MEDEI is still in the early stages of securing a contractor.

In an email (attached below) from Minister Duguid dated October 9th, 2015, to Remember Every Name he writes:

In addition to researching records, a utility locate company is being openly procured to further investigate and verify the presence or absence of underground utilities.

“He says sewage ‘is being openly procured’ which seems to contradict what MEDEI indicated about an investigation underway. How can an investigation be already ‘current’ or ‘ongoing’ if they have not even found a contractor?” Writes Marilyn in a follow up email to the Northern Hoot this Tuesday.

To add further to the confusion, a request from the Northern Hoot for clarification on the matter as to whether or not an investigation on the matter of septic infrastructure through the cemetery has been launched and if so, by who, resulted in the following response today from MEDEI:

In August 2015, MCSS requested that IO procure the services of a legal survey company, which was done through a competitive process using our Vendor of Record list. The contract was awarded to the successful consultant (Deardon & Stanton Limited) on September 9, 2015, and they hired a utility locate company (Terra Discovery) as a sub-contractor. The field work has already been completed and it’s anticipated the survey company will provide a final report soon. IO will review the report, share with MCSS and recommend next steps.

MEDEI also assures that MCSS is making an effort to work with interested parties like Remember Every Name to further preserve and maintain the cemetery at Huronia.

However, Jim Dolmage states otherwise. “This is true that MCSS had been working with us. In particular they were working harder when it seemed apparent that money in the Huronia settlement would be reverting back to the government- several hundred thousand it appeared. We forced a review this summer of 800 downgraded claims that resulted in more money being awarded to survivors.”

Jim has lost confidence with TMHC’s work thus far. Of the company’s ground penetrating radar study he remarked, “They looked in the ground at most of the cemetery to determine where graves were located but omitted the section where we believe the pipes are buried. The omission is very clear on the document they produced that shows what they surveyed and what they intentionally did not survey.”

Jim was among the group members that discovered the utilities in the cemetery were cement tanks for a septic system. THMC and the government would have known this but did not reveal the information.

“This is why we requested to be allowed to watch the physical investigation of the property,” shared Jim. “The lack of willingness to be open and honest in their efforts bothers us more than anything.”

Regarding the discovery of bone shards and cedar planks near the site, THMC concludes in their report that after investigation by their expert it was established that the bones were determined to be from a cow. However, Dr. Melbye, who was also involved in solving the “human mysteries in the Lac Megantic explosion”, questions the findings.

In an email to members of Remember Every Name Dr. Melbye writes:

There must be an expert in human identification on the scene. I’m not referring to an individual who has taken a course in human osteology or an archaeologist, they are not experts in human skeletal identification. Usually when bones are found at a dig site the construction is halted until an expert can be called in to determine if it is human or animal. In this case, it sounds as though they had an expert look over the bones to determine if they were indeed human or animal. In this particular report it was determined that the bone/bones were animal bones therefore the construction resumed as usual. In this case we have no recourse because we don’t know who their expert was and I’m sure they didn’t save the bones. It would be interesting to know who actually did the inspection and determination and see if there was an actual report written up. There is no protocol in a case like this. It is not written anywhere to say that when bones are found they are to be shipped somewhere for analysis, usually what happens is an expert will be called in and can make the determination on the spot. If at that time they are determined to be human remains, they are immediately sent to the Office of the Chief Coroner in Toronto for further evaluation. If the dig site is a construction site and human remains are found, construction is halted for an unknown period of time until given the OK to resume. By the way, only an expert can cast their eye on a bone and determine if it is human or non-human. For example, if it were presented in a court of law that the determination was made by a non-expert -it would not be accepted as evidence.

MEDEI shared with the Northern Hoot that MCSS “has reviewed approximately 100,000 historical documents to date related to the Huronia Regional Cemetery. The review of these documents has found no evidence that graves have been disturbed.”

Jim takes issue with the comment. “The lawyers for the survivors received those documents as the results of requests to prepare for trial. The cemetery played absolutely no role in the preparation for trial so there were no requests for documents about funerals, burials, et cetera. The focus was entirely on neglect and abuse of those who would still be living to make claims. Of the tens of thousands of documents received by the lawyers, Marilyn found only three that even mentioned the cemetery. The one relevant document she did find was a letter from the institutions to cease the use of the septic system serving several houses beside the cemetery and hook up with the City sewage system. This was in the early 70’s. The cemetery only came into discussion when the lawyers decided not to proceed to trial and was inserted as a settlement term at the request of the survivors.

“Particularly annoying to me is the statement that no evidence was found about graves being disturbed. They have also not been able –so they tell us, to find any evidence to determine when, how, why and by whom several hundred gravestones were removed during the period of time that the lawsuit covers. Or any evidence that would indicate who, when, why a small percentage of these gravestones were found and put back in the cemetery several decades later, but not over the appropriate graves –simply all cemented into one place with no explanation but looking like a mass burial spot. I suspect all of those gravestones were dug up when the sewage line was installed.”

In an email to the Northern Hoot late last night, Leah – Remember Every Name, expressed the group’s discouragement with being referred back to MEDEI and feel that the Ministry blew their opportunity to set things right when they glossed over the finding of a septic system in the cemetery while overseeing IO’s joint investigation with MCSS.

“[MEDEI], to us, is not a neutral 3rd party, independent, nor does it directly involve our group throughout the investigation as we asked -saying only that MEDEI will share its findings with us and MCSS, nor does it take up the offer of our voluntary/chosen expert, Dr. Melbye, to be involved in any investigation,” writes Leah. “We also expected to be apprised along the way of all steps being taken and it is not clear at all what has been done and what they are still planning to do.”

What must not be lost in this tangle of bureaucratic prattle is the very principle that underpins this entire effort- the equal value, dignity and inclusion of all people of diverse abilities.

“Survivors need to be included in the investigation -not just the future memorialization, and apprised of every step taken,” writes Leah. “They have asked for help from Dr. Jerry Melbye, and for some clear oversight from outside the government bodies that have been handling things so far. If there is work that has been or is being done to look into any of our concerns, we have neither heard about it nor been given the opportunity to have our appointed expert present.”

dentifying the precise number of graves that have been disrupted by the installation of a sewage system could be as challenging as identifying the number and names of all who died while held at the Huronia Regional Centre. At one time MCSS agreed that the number of Huronia’s dead was over 2000. However, following the class-action lawsuit settlement, and the order to restore the cemetery and identify all the dead by name, MCSS has recanted -on their website, the number of residents who lived out their life of misery at Huronia until their end of days. Today MCSS claims that only 1,379 people died at Huronia. The MCSS website states, “In 2014, as part of the Huronia Settlement Agreement, the ministry created a cemetery registry, which lists by name each of the 1,379 individuals buried at the cemetery.”

The more truthful statement is that the number ‘1,379’ is reflective of the dead that MCSS was able to identify by name. The unnamed dead are not indicated in the final death count as portrayed by MCSS today.

On December 9th, 2013 Ontario’s Premiere, Kathleen Wynne issued an apology, as set out by the settlement terms in the class-action lawsuit, to the survivors of regional centres that warehoused people with disabilities. In Wynne’s final remarks she said, “As a society, we seek to learn from the mistakes of the past. And that process continues. I know, Mr. Speaker, that we have more work to do. And so we will protect the memory of all those who have suffered, help tell their stories and ensure that the lessons of this time are not lost.”

“The real crux of it is that the government wants to be definite and say they know exactly how many people were buried there and they know who they were,” vented Jim. “And we know from investigations otherwise that they cannot say that. But they want to leave it with certainty and we want to really reflect the history that they cannot be certain who was buried there or even where they were buried.”

Self-advocates and advocates involved in the Huronia class-action lawsuit and members of Remember Every Name are firm that before any future memorial is established the issue of: unmarked burial areas; unaccounted burials; lost names of the dead; the use of the dead’s headstones to create walkways and places of leisure; and the installation of an elaborate sewage system that flushes human filth past the feet and head of the final resting places of many dead –should their bones still lay there, must be reckoned with for time immemorial.

“If we hope to learn anything from our history -and there are indignities which have been omitted from the official picture, then people deserve to know,” writes Leah. “We are planning to follow up with the Premier.”

A Courageous Man: Leo Gattie’s Undiminished Spirit

Tue, 28 Jul 2015 18:29:13 GMT

BY STEFFANIE PETRONI , NORTHERN HOOT

“Don’t lie on your stomach when you go to sleep at night. And don’t go to sleep right away.”

The advice was administered by a guy who had been around long enough to know the ropes. It was Leo’s first night locked down with about 40 other males. For whatever reason -maybe it was the pity evoked on account of the rookie’s diminutive stature or some kindness in the seasoned internee’s heart, he was compelled to look out for Leo.

Leo was overwhelmed. Just a day ago he was packed up, stuffed into a Ford Coupe and then driven to the Algoma Central Train Station where he was loaded onto a steam engine destined for Orillia, Ontario.

“And listen, when you see the staff beating the crap out of another guy -don’t look. Just ditch. Fast.”

Leo looked down the length of the ward. There were two rows of beds running along either side of the narrow hallway. The beds were separated with barely enough room in between to squeeze in a tight fart. You’d have to crawl up the mattress from the foot of the bed to reach your pillow –if you had one.

It was a lot to take in. Especially for Leo, who was just 10 years old.

At the top of the 19th century Ontario jails were convenient places to warehouse a slurry of folks- the criminal, the poor, the mentally ill, the learning disabled and the developmentally disabled. Jails were crowded and the conditions were horrendous. After visiting one jail in 1839, William Lyon Mackenzie declared the treatment of three women deemed ‘lunatics’, locked in cribs as “severe beyond that of the most hardened criminals”, concerned citizens took up a dedicated fight to lobby the government for change.[1] As a result, the provincial government passed “An Act to Authorise the Erection of an Asylum within this Province for the Reception of Insane and Lunatic Persons.” [2]

In 1876 Ontario opened its first institution for people with a developmental disability on the outskirts of Orillia. In 1876, it was named Orillia Asylum for Idiots. Later it was called the Ontario Hospital School of Orillia. At the time of its closure in 2009, the facility was known as the Huronia Regional Centre.[3]

It was 1948 when Leo walked through the entrance of the Ontario Hospital School. It was the beginning of what would be nearly 25 brutal years of institutionalization.

*****

Leo was born in Blind River, Ontario. He was one of half a dozen kids raised by a loving and hard-working single mother. Originally from the Wikwemikong First Nation Community on Manitoulin Island, Leo’s mom eventually ended up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario working the night-shift at the Algoma Steel Plant piling the brick ovens –a man’s job back then, to put chicken on the table for her young ones. One day the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) showed up and took her children away.

Leo was eight years old and placed with his siblings in an orphanage in the Sault. His mom was unsuccessful in her attempts to recover her babies. The children remained there together for about three years until a CAS worker gathered up Leo and his meager belongings, boarded him on a train and headed for the Ontario Hospital School. CAS perceived Leo to have a developmental disability. Leo’s family was never notified of CAS’s decision to place him in an institution. It was his sister, Jenny, older by just one year, who noticed he was no longer at the orphanage.

“Where’s Leo? Where’s my little brother?” Jenny asked. “He’s gone,” they told her. But nobody would tell the young girl where Leo had been taken.

It has been noted among people who know Leo well that he has an impressive memory. Now 76 years old, Leo remembers with uncomfortable clarity the day, 66 years ago, that CAS put him on the train to Orillia.

“They just took me away. That’s when they still had the steam engines and people was still driving Model-T cars in those days. It was still back in the olden days when they took me away,” he shared.

We are sitting at the kitchen table in his tiny apartment in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. It’s a damp December evening and outside the sky is grey. Melody Hawdon is there with us. She helps out Leo with day to day tasks, like managing his medications. More so Melody and Leo have become chosen family to one another. They’ve been a significant part of each other’s lives for 13 years.

Leo continues. “I asked them ‘where are you taking me’? They said ‘ohhhh I’m taking you for a nice train ride’. But they didn’t say where about. She took me away on the train and then I seen this great big brick building and I said ‘is that a school? That big building there?’ She said ‘yes, that’s your new home. That’s why I’m taking you there’. I said ‘you call that a home? Look at all the windows in it. It must be a big home.’ She said ‘oh yeah and there’s lots of people there too’. I said ‘how long am I going to live here.’ She said ‘oh, you’ll be living here forever’.”

*****

Over 100 years ago, journalist and later a government Minister, John Kelso, advocated for the protection of children in Canada. His vision was that no child should ever live in fear, harm or violence. Under his efforts the Children’s Aid Society was established and given the legal right to remove children from families or detrimental situations. ‘Rescued’ children were often placed in foster homes or institutions.

In the nineteenth century a medical model was applied to the care of people with developmental and learning disabilities. Entering the twentieth century disabilities were viewed as a flaw that could be corrected through modification and training. Eugenics tried to control groups of people who were considered to be inferior.[4] Supporters of the eugenics movement argued that people with a developmental disability were the cause of many social problems and needed to be removed from society.[5]

When the Orillia Asylum for Idiots opened in 1876 there were 100 ‘patients’ admitted. By 1890 the population tripled with 309 residents on site. In 1902 there were 652 residents, 1945 – 2,241 residents[6], 1968 reached peak population at 2,948 residents and 1975 -1,566 residents[7]. By March 2009 there would be 0 residents when the doors to the facility, now known as Huronia Regional Centre, would close for good.

*****

“Every night you had to stand in line. I don’t know how long the hall was but it was awful long,” spoke Leo. “You had to take your clothes off and fold them up and put them on your bed. You had to wrap a towel around your waist and then you have to stand in line. I don’t know how long you had to stand there. Quite a while, I guess. Then they take you down the hall to the shower room. Then only three guys at a time would take a shower. When you come out of the shower, the staff, well that’s what I call them- they look like guards, but anyways, when you come out of the shower they check you. The say ‘put your arms up’. They check your arms and check your hands, check your ears and they say ‘bend over’ and all that. They say ‘you washed yourself that good? Look at the dirt on ya’!’ They give you a whack across your ass and send you back into the shower and say ‘get back in there and bath right’.”

Melody supplemented Leo’s comment. “They hit him a lot in the head, and one time with a cup. He remembers dripping in blood. He is deaf in his left ear. He’s been deaf for many, many years.”

As Leo’s trust in Melody grew over the years he began sharing the details of his life in Huronia. The confidence developing between the Leo and Melody would become a significant factor that allowed Melody to support Leo to prepare a strong claim in a class-action lawsuit against the province of Ontario for the horrific abuses he suffered at Huronia Regional Centre.

In 2010, two brave women –Marie Slark and Patricia Seth, also former residents of Huronia, brought forward a class-action lawsuit against the Province of Ontario for a breach of its “fiduciary, statutory and common law duties to the class through the establishment, operation, and supervision of Huronia”.[8] The application for the lawsuit also alleged that the Province’s “failure to care for and protect class members resulted in loss or injury suffered by them, including psychological trauma, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and exacerbation of existing mental disabilities”.[9] This action was certified as a class proceeding on July 30th, 2010 and the settlement action was approved by the Superior Court of Justice on December 3, 2013. Jim and Marilyn Dolmage were friends of Marie and Patricia and both served as their litigation guardians in the proceedings. Jim would eventually become a supportive resource to Leo’s claim process.

Melody began the arduous task of gathering files, documents and reports accounting Leo’s life in the institution.

“I found that he had been hospitalized at one point for thirteen days with wounds to his feet and ankles,” she said. “He got an infection and it ran through his body. He was on really strong antibiotics. Because of the stories that Leo has told me for thirteen years, I’m thinking that people used to stomp on his feet, kick his feet, kick his ankles, kick him when he was down. Beat him. Between his peers and the staff, somebody really hurt him.”

Digging further into Leo’s file Melody learned that when Leo was later placed in the Edgar Adult Occupational Centre that the deformity of his feet and toes were so noted that surgery was performed on both feet.

“His toes are all different shapes,” said Melody. “His feet were broken over and over.”

*****

Jim Dolmage met Leo at an open house on the former grounds of the Huronia Regional Centre following the settlement of the lawsuit. He has helped Leo, and many others like him, document his story for the claim about his time spent in the institution.

“Huronia was the most understaffed and underfunded institutions in North America,” Jim provided during one of our phone conversations this past winter. “You could have gone to Mississippi or Alabama and found a better staffed institution.”

Huronia supplemented their staff shortage by putting the young residents to work. Leo worked on the grounds cutting the grass in the summer and in the winter shoveling snow and coal. Leo was not outfitted with the proper protection for the harsh weather and his hands would ache throughout the winter. When he wasn’t working outside Leo was inside cleaning ‘miles’ of hallways for hours with an industrial wooden floor scrubber that left his hands full of splinters and his slight body throbbing.

“It was not uncommon that the able bodied residents ran the institution,” remarked Jim. “Residents did laundry, worked in the kitchen, teenage girls looked after the babies and younger boys fed people that lived in the medical unit.”

In addition to being understaffed, Huronia did not allow families or visitors to proceed beyond certain points of the institution. Both of these factors established the potential for all sorts of rampant psychological, physical and sexual abuse to occur. And it did.

“I had the unfortunate –in one respect, and fortunate in another, privilege to hear these same stories over and over from different people. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are true and they happened,” remarked Jim.

An inspection –one of the very few, of the institution in the 70’s uncovered that among other horrors, two men had been left in segregation for over a year. Reports and stories from survivors expose murder and sexual assault in the underground tunnels that ran heat and water throughout the 200 acres of Huronia’s grounds. Cruel punishments -like ice baths, and the humiliation of residents -like forced nudity, were employed. And many staff did not stop short of their own abuse against the children.

“With the boys the staff used residents to control other residents,” detailed Jim. “There’s all kinds of stories about how the bigger boys were used to control the younger boys. How boys were encouraged to fight each other. How there were systems put into place where if a boy was out of line it was the other boys who abused that boy physically to put him back in line. There was a thing called a ‘horseshoe’ where one boy was put in the middle and all the other boys would all gather around and punch and kick him. There was another thing called ‘the tunnel’ where there were two lines of boys and one boy was forced to run down through the middle and was punched and kicked as he went through. The staff quite often physically abused the boys but even more often used the boys to abuse each other.”

Documenting the stories of sexual abuse among the male survivors was challenging. Recounting the experiences were painful and embarrassing for many. And for men in today’s society still, not something that is so easy to come forward with.

The insights Jim shared of the sexual abuse experienced by the boys may be difficult but his comments strike a raw nerve.

“I learned that the experiences of the men- it was all horrific, but the abuse to the men was even more systemic than the abuse to the women. And I put that down to the fact that the men were looked after by men. And the women were looked after by women. And the care of men for other men is simply not as sympathetic or as humane as the care of women by women.”

The sexual abuse of male residents wasn’t only perpetrated by male staff. As more male survivors of Huronia shared their stories a disturbing pattern was exposed.

“All of those men had stories to tell of a similar nature- being locked down in wards as children with other pubescent boys and being sexually assaulted by those boys. You went in there as a 9 or 10 year old and you were assaulted and then by the time you were 15 you had a string of 9 or 10 year olds that you could assault. Men have talked about this. It was just a cycle that went on and on. And that lasted right up until the institution closed in 2009.”

It is as perplexing as it is disturbing that the atrocious neglect and crimes committed against the residents of Huronia were never brought to justice in their day. Indeed, these incidents didn’t even make it into the mainstream publications of the time. The staff took oath’s of confidentiality and were threatened with job loss should they divulge the horrors happening upon the grounds of Huronia. Just as detrimental to the protection and dignity of the residents were the prevailing attitudes about people with developmental disabilities.

“To put it into perspective, when Leo was there, there was a huge siren in the facility that when anybody escaped the siren sounded and the whole community of Orillia was alerted that there was an escapee from the institution. People locked their doors, locked their windows and got out their weapons when one of ‘these people’ were on the loose,” remarked Jim.

And Leo was often cause for the siren to sound.

*****

“When I started growing up and got friends every fall we would make up a little plan. We use to run away every fall,” shared Leo.

“Well,” added Leo with a grin. “We got caught though!”

Despite the grimness of the memory Leo laughed, and so did Melody and I.

“We use to walk the railroad track up to Hawkestone there, and break into summer cottages every year. We done that every fall. Walked the railroad track. We went to the same place all the time, every year. We walked the railway track all the way to Hawkestone and break into the same cottages every year,” he said.

Leo and his friends would steal food and then find a car to hotwire. They’d drive it to anywhere until the gas tank was empty and then find another car to hotwire to stay mobile. The teenagers would keep up that drill until they were eventually caught four or five days later.

Of Leo’s interludes on the lam –moments in paradise by comparison to the institution, Jim notes that Leo’s earliest years were spent in nature. “He wasn’t someone that could psychologically adapt to institutional life. His only way of coping was to try to get out of there. And Leo has enough wherewithal –I mean, he is obviously a man with talents and he was able to keep escaping.”

Even though the punishment that awaited his return was miserable should he be caught, the chance to grab freedom was too irresistible. Eventually the youth would be apprehended and returned to Huronia. Leo and another gentleman’s story corroborated incidents of being dressed in women’s clothing.

“You had to take all your clothes off and put a pair of pajamas on or something and a housecoat. Like something like a women’s dress. I call it a housecoat. Like a kimono. We had to go upstairs and downstairs like that. We had to eat in the dining room with that housecoat on,” recalled Leo.

Leo’s partner on the run, and a person that Jim also knew well, shared with Jim memories of being called a faggot, experiencing physical abuse and being locked in a ventilator shaft for many nights while wearing ladies undergarments, after returning from the escapes.

Leo also remembered upon his return from his brief bursts of independence, being greeted –across his knuckles, by Sweet Marie. Huronia operated a shoe manufacturing business in the basement, a sort of sheltered workshop. The soles of the winter boots were outfitted with metal crampons. Leo remembers staff who would keep a leather sole in their back pocket with which to hit the children. “Come here and get a taste of Sweet Marie,” one staff member would often invite of the residents.

“They would hit your hands until your hands turns purple,” said Leo.

Leo’s life as a serial escapee caught up with him when his ‘borrowed’ car sputtered to a stop. By that time Leo had been moved to Rideau Regional Centre for the Developmentally Disabled but he would not return to the institution. Instead Leo was shuffled into the penitentiary system spending some time in Kingston Penitentiary and then Penetanguishene Jail. He was incarcerated for three years and when he had served his time he didn’t want to leave.

“I made some good friends there,” said Leo. He asked the guards if he could stay at the jail. “They said ‘no, you done your time, now you have to go.’ They gave me all my stuff back and they opened the door and said, ‘o.k., you’re free. Get going’. I went down the steps there and I thought boy, that’s a long ways to all the way to town. I turned around and knocked on the door. The guard opened the door and said ‘what do you want’. I said ‘going to town, that’s a long ways to walk. It would be nighttime by the time I get into town’. The guard said to me ‘well, why don’t you run all the way’. I said ‘I can’t run’. I said ‘you got a car, why don’t you give me a ride’. He said ‘no, I’m not giving you a ride. You’re free to go. You served your time, now get going. I’m not giving you no ride. Walk to town’.”

After Leo was ‘kicked out’ of jail he spent some time living on the streets of Toronto and found odd jobs were he could. His childhood spent laboring in the outdoors toughened him and for many years he worked as a hand on farms.

“I worked on dairy farms, I worked on pig farms, I worked on chicken farms. I worked on a heck of a lot of farms,” he said.

In time Leo reunited with his family who were now scattered across the map. He found his mother and in the years that she had left they celebrated a close relationship. Twenty years ago, in the days leading to her passing, she lovingly encouraged her son to remain independent, to remain free.

“Before my mom died she told me herself, she said to me, ‘I don’t want you to live with anybody at all. I want you to live all by yourself. First I told her I don’t know if I can do that. My mom said ‘you know you can do it and I know you can do it. I want you to try. I know it’s going to take you a while to get used to it but I’m sure you can do it’. I’ve been living by myself ever since. And I love living by myself.”

Leo’s sister, Jenny, ensured his well-being after their mother crossed the great divide. And then a few years later Melody came along.

*****

On December 9th, 2013 Ontario’s Premiere, Kathleen Wynne issued an apology, as set out by the settlement terms in the class-action lawsuit, to the survivors of regional centres that housed people with disabilities. In Wynne’s final remarks she said, “As a society, we seek to learn from the mistakes of the past. And that process continues. I know, Mr. Speaker, that we have more work to do. And so we will protect the memory of all those who have suffered, help tell their stories and ensure that the lessons of this time are not lost.”

One may wonder if Wynne’s statement was made tongue-in-cheek given that the provincial government provided a settlement to the measly tune of 35 million bucks for some 3,700 survivors and a promise that the Huronia cemetery would be maintained. The settlement effectively prevented the public airing of generations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse and neglect that occurred in the government run institutions.

The 65,000 documents collected through the class-action lawsuit which account the alleged abuses that happened at Huronia from police, witnesses and staff at the institution will only be available by filing a freedom-of-information request to the provincial government. Further, the province has the right to redact any material that it deems to infringe on privacy or that falls under one of the other numerous exceptions permitted for censorship.

Fortunately, there are many platforms where these difficult stories can be shared.

The advocacy work of Jim and his wife have advanced the preservation of about 10 survivor stories. These narratives will be archived in one location along with other stories as more people come forward to publicly share and document what they experienced while held at Huronia and other institutions like it.

There will be many people who read Leo’s story, and stories of other survivors, who may have never been aware of the atrocities committed against Canadians with developmental disabilities.

How could they?

For generations people with perceivable differences were isolated from mainstream society and as we’ve learned from Leo’s story, suffered inhumane crimes that were never reported or if reported, never legally pursued. It would be hopeful to say that we know better today, that people of all abilities are valued as equal human beings.

But we haven’t come too far.

One need only look to pre-natal testing for the presence of a third 21st chromosome – Down syndrome. Statistics show that of the women who do choose to undergo pre-screening for Down syndrome, 90% will abort if Trisomy 21 is detected. Eugenics –packaged as reproductive health services.

The last institution for people with developmental disabilities in Ontario closed 6 years ago. Have we become a more inclusive society? Or are we just warehousing people differently now?

Jim expresses concern for the well-being of older folks who have been released from the institutions. In Southern Ontario, self-advocates and supporters are struggling with accessible accommodations for seniors or people with physical limitations.

“One of the horrible things that we are starting to see happen with people who were in their 50’s and 60’s when they were released from the institutions is that they’re now at a point in their lives where they need accessible accommodation and a lot of group homes don’t have that,” explained Jim. “So they are being forced from group homes into long-term beds. It’s simply going from one bad institution to another bad institution at the end of their lives. It seems very unjust that these folks that had to live in institutions when they were young had to be put back into the same kind of environment that they grew up in.”

*****

Because of the extreme violence Leo suffered while in Huronia he could receive $42,000 for his misery. That works out to about $140 for every week he spent in the institution being beaten and experiencing, as well as witnessing, myriad other horrors –not to mention the uncounted years of residual trauma and suffering.

“Show her your hands Leo,” encouraged Melody gently. “It’s o.k. Leo,” she said as he tried to pull his hands into the sleeves of his leather jacket.

“His thumbs- he has to take arthritis medication. When it’s damp he can take up to six per day. When it’s not damp, he aches and he complains about it a lot. I truly believe he is in pain –his feet, his hands and his knees. I think a little is normal arthritis but I think a lot is due to the injuries he suffered to his hands and feet when he was in the institution,” she continued. “His hands use to bleed when they whipped him. The staff would use the soles and just whip him on his hands and they would bleed and blister. They would wake him up in the middle of the night to shovel snow and his hands and feet hurt from the cold. He wasn’t allowed to go back inside. He talks about working in the garden in the summer. I think he had heat stroke. He talks about being dizzy and thirsty. He was not allowed to go inside.”

The trusting relationship between Melody and Leo was an investment of time.

“Leo didn’t talk about the institution. We weren’t allowed to talk about it. The family wasn’t allowed to talk about it. It was just a given thing,” said Melody. “Then one day I went to Leo’s house. He finally gave me a key and I found him in the closet sleeping. I said ‘what are you doing’. He said ‘I sleep in the closet so the pigs can’t get me at night’.”

And that was how Leo began sharing his courageous story of survival and resilience with Melody.

Many years have passed since Melody discovered Leo slumbering upon the closet floor. Since that time Leo has attended various speaking engagements to tell others about his experiences in Huronia. He was particularly compelled to let First Nation communities know about what happened.

“Leo knew many First Nation people that were in these institutions,” said Melody.

Awaiting his settlement, Leo had a dream. With his due compensation he wanted to find a little place in the country and become a homeowner. Jenny, knowing how long these sorts of promises from the government can take to fulfil, wanted to make sure that her 76 year old little brother wouldn’t have to delay his hopes one moment longer. This spring, Jenny provided him with the means to purchase a snug little mobile home on the outskirts of Sault Ste. Marie- country living.

Landing just 1.7 km outside of the community para-bus boundaries means that on his fixed pension he is unable to afford the $15 rider fee and that Leo often walks into town to take care of business should an urgent matter arise. The other day he walked about 20 km to reach his bank in downtown Sault Ste. Marie and then walked 20 km back home.

“It was ok. I did it. I guess it would be nice if I had one of those battery operated bikes,” said Leo shrugging off the impressive trek. “Well, I got to go see those girls at the bank,” he said. “They would worry about me if I didn’t go in. I been goin’ there for years.”

He’s right. People would worry if he went under the radar for too long. The tellers at the bank, the barista’s at his favourite coffee hang out who spot him tea until his pension comes in at the end of the month, his bevvy of female co-workers at the Canadian Mental Health and his close ties with family and friends form the important daily networks that enrich his life.

But it’s not one way.

Leo and Melody have become family to one another, so much so that when Melody marries next month she has scheduled Leo for sittings during the wedding photo shoot. He just belongs in those family photos!

“Leo is probably the smartest person in my life and the most inspiring,” Melody emphatically stated. “He is so smart because he knew how to survive. And he is the most inspiring person in my life because most people couldn’t have gone through half of what he did and remain half as intact as he is.”

There is much to learn from a man like Leo. There are many truths that Leo can tell us that our government will not.

“Having heard stories from people like Leo, I understand now – and this is the disillusioning part, that there were a lot of bad people. And there were a lot of people that supported that bad system and did nothing about it. And the good people were few and far between,” shared Jim.

*****

His name is fitting. Leo, the lion, full of courage.

He was torn from his mother at 8 years old, separated from his siblings when he was 10 years old and then filed and recorded as a number in the Orillia Regional Hospital manifest.

He withstood heinous abuse. He was whipped. He was locked up. He was treated less than human. He escaped, many times. And though they would contain his body, they could not contain his brave heart.

He is a son, a brother, an uncle and a friend. He is a co-worker, a patron and a neighbour. He is a survivor, a teacher, an artist and a homeowner. He is a kind and gentle man.

And especially, and most remarkably, Leo is a man of undiminished spirit.

Sad attempt at HRC tour

Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:44:30 GMT

Recently, I was part of a tour of the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) organized by the Ministry of Community and Social Services. I came away from the two-hour tour angry, frustrated and, frankly, ashamed that I took part in a shameful charade, as did the majority of others.

The tour was part of the legal settlement between the province and the HRC with the “survivors group.” Only five tours were arranged, and only one was open to the public. In a column in The Packet & Times (“Starry Night stands out,” Aug. 28), John Swartz, who was part of an earlier media tour, noted it was “a tour of the tunnel system” that “missed every point of interest.” It was much more or perhaps much less. It was a clumsy attempt to cover over what was the true story of life within the walls of the HRC.

The guide religiously followed a script written by the ministry with all the marks of a legally vetted document. She had the audacity to refer to the residents as clients and, when challenged, argued that no person was held in the facility against his or her will and were free to come and go freely. One of the survivors on the tour had been taken there at seven, and another at 11 years of age, both left by parents. They pointed out that the doors to the rooms, including the dormitories, were all locked from the outside.

The guide reflected the superficiality of this sad attempt to open the doors to the public.

One of the few rooms shown consisted of a quick view of a dormitory room. No commentary. No mention by the tour leader that it held 16 beds crammed together with about one foot of separation. It was the survivors who described the beatings and sexual assault endured by many patients in these dormitories. We were quickly ushered by the firmly closed dining room, which, when viewed by peeking through the small window, would make a Siberian gulag look like Club Med. The children’s play area, totally ignored by the guide, but identified by an existing sign above the door, and which could only be seen through a tear in the paper-covered window, was appalling. The shower room was quickly identified as the tour passed by. There was no mention that boys ranging in age from five to 17 were lined up naked in the corridors to wait their turn to shower. There was, however, a thorough tour of the “cottages,” therapeutic pool and recreation areas built as the centre was closing and where, apparently, dances would be held.

Thankfully, these colossal information gaps were filled in by three former residents or “survivors” who had joined the group. It was clear that the ministry guides did not welcome the survivors, did not invite them to add their comments or express any opinions.

What motivated the ministry to ignore or perpetuate this cover-up of the history of the centre is puzzling. There is no litigation issue, as the settlement has been reached. The premier of Ontario has formally apologized for the horrific treatment so many residents suffered. Why not be truthful? Is this bureaucratic paranoia or simply a callous lack of concern for the truth?

I am not suggesting that every administrator and attendant working at the Ontario Hospital School and, later, the Huronia Regional Centre were cruel abusers. I am sure there are many who were kind and professional in a difficult environment. Neither am I suggesting that the care and treatment of the developmentally challenged was very different than it is now. But it does not excuse the widespread psychological, physical and sexual abuse that took place. That such abuse was allowed to go on between the residents and some attendants was criminal. There were cover-ups then and obviously cover-ups now. The financial settlement and the formal apologies do not remove the wrong.

If opening the centre to the public was to resolve this issue, it failed. The approach taken, in fact, has compounded the issue. This tour was a travesty, an insult to the “survivors,” their families and an embarrassment for the government. Moreover, the pall that hangs over those buildings and perhaps the city itself has manifested itself a hundred-fold. It was not a day for healing.

The Ministry of Community and Social Services had an opportunity to help people have a reckoning with the past. Members of the tour were hungry for the truth, and not for prurient reasons. Thoughtful and caring humans ask themselves, “Why did these things happen, particularly to such vulnerable children and adults? Why did no one step up and speak out? What would I have done? How do we do things differently?” Only by acknowledging what happened can we all move on.

By Paul Raymond, Orillia (Opinion Piece submitted in Orillia Packet)

They "didn't expect to be treated any better": Advocate reacts to another delay for Huronia abuse survivors

Thu, 03 Jul 2014 14:36:57 GMT

The survivors of abuse at Ontario's Huronia centre for developmentally challenged children are facing yet another delay in their fight for compensation. A judge has agre ed to a delay in the compensation process because the provincial government has been slow to provide survivors with the necessary paperwork.

Marilyn Dolmage, a former Huronia social worker, and the litigation guardian for one of the women who drove the compensation claim, tells us what this means for thousands of claimants.

"It's another frustration after years of frustration trying to have some justice" says Ms. Dolmage. "It's very problematic for some who are elderly and not well. We had been encouraged to settle out of court to get money faster because this was a vulnerable group of people."

Huronia closed in 2009 amid reports of a decades-long history of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Last September, with many survivors growing old and unwell, they agreed to settle their class action lawsuit against the Ontario government. The Premier apologized to the residents and promised they will receive $35 million, to be distributed through a claims process. Now an Ontario judge has agreed to delay that process because the provincial agency has failed to provide many survivors with the files kept on them while they were at Huronia.

Ms. Dolmage doesn't buy the government's argument claim that it has extra staff working around the clock to fulfill its responsibilities. "I think that when they closed up these institutions they packed up these files in a very shoddy way, and they've done everything else in a very uncaring, neglectful way that is now causing further harm."

The survivors want the files because "they want to know whether the file says anything about abuse." For many though, the files may also contain the only photograph of their childhood. "It's really their own life story they want to hear," says Ms. Dolmage.

Now she accompanies survivors who return to visit the empty institution. "We found scratches from little childrens' hands inside the door where they were locked into a little tiny cupboard."

Ms. Dolmage's own connection to Huronia began during her childhood. She had a brother that she never knew who died at Huronia. She saw him for the first time at his funeral.

From CBC Radio

Ex-Southwestern Regional Centre resident alleges rampant abuse at ‘the joint’

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:54:09 GMT

By Rebecca Wright , Windsor Star

Steve Reh painfully recalls his childhood living in what he calls “a prison without bars,” as a resident of the Southwestern Regional Centre.

A morning wake-up call could be a cold bucket of water splashed in your face, he said, and brutal beatings and electric shocks were common during the day. And when you went to bed – some nights without dinner – you found you weren’t always alone under your blanket, he said, as that was often the time when sexual abusers would strike.

“It was basically hell encased in a building,” said Reh. “Waking up, you would just think: ‘OK, what’s going to happen to me today? Am I going to get hit again?’ You could never have nice thoughts. Ever.”

Reh is one of at least eight former residents who are from the Windsor area and are involved in a class-action lawsuit against the province for physical and emotional abuse that is alleged to have taken place at the centre. The lawsuit alleges the centre – for people with physical and developmental disabilities – failed to properly care for and protect the residents from physical and mental harm, and that the plaintiffs are emotionally and psychologically traumatized by their experiences.

A tentative settlement of $12.1 million was reached last week and still has to be approved by a judge. The allegations made in the lawsuit have not been proven in court. Reh said not all the staff participated in the abuse.

Reh, 50, has spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair his entire life. He became a resident of Southwestern Regional, located near Chatham, at the age of seven, and remained there for more than 10 years.

Prior to living at the facility, he resided in a group home. His parents had sent him there because they were unable to deal with his disability.

But one day he was swiftly moved to the Southwestern Regional with no explanation.

“At first, not much happened, but as the years would go on, I would either experience or see all kinds of abuse, be it sexual, emotional, physical, you know, whatever,” Reh said Saturday during an interview from his east Windsor apartment, where he lives with his wife Candi. “Like everything you could imagine that’s wrong, it was that.”

He said he was hit hard by workers, which left bruises for days, and for no apparent reason.

“Just for the hell of it, they would hit you, just to get their damn kicks,” said Reh. He said although it thankfully never happened to him, he witnessed some residents abused with what he described as cattle prods, a high-voltage electric shock used for herding cattle.

He said residents were only called out by their last name, if not by obscenities and insults like “Get over here, idiot.”

And he said complaining or showing any type of weakness was out of the question.

He recalled once when he was curled up in bed in pain, a worker came to inspect him and asked where it hurt. He said the worker told him to put his hands at his side so he could take a look.

Reh said the worker then punched him right where he had been hurting.

“If they hit any harder, they probably could have cracked my ribs,” said Reh. “So if I was in pain, I suffered through it, which was a lot less painful than what I might get afterwards. So I just began to build myself a little wall.”

As Reh spoke, his voice cracked, and he reached out several times to hold hands with Candi, who was sitting beside him on a couch in their living room.

“And the sexual abuse, well you can imagine what that entailed, I’m sure,” said Reh. “I was violated in every which way…. It’s a subject I don’t care too much to talk about.”

Now a short, middle-aged man with long, wispy, neatly combed grey hair, Reh refers to the centre as “the joint.”

He said he once tried seeking help from a worker in another ward, but that worker reported it back to the workers he was complaining about, and they beat him harder than ever.

He said he considered suicide twice while a resident of the facility, and one time held a razor blade inches from his wrist.

“There’d be no one I could turn to,” said Reh. “For lack of a better term, it was a prison without bars.”

He said one of the worst things he witnessed occurred one night while workers were playing cards. A blind child was sitting nearby, minding his own business rocking back and forth on the ground.

Then one of the workers got up from the game of cards and kicked the blind boy in the head with shoes that had high platform heels, Reh said.

“He rammed the kid’s head a nd about five minutes later, there’s blood coming down his face.”

Another time, he said, a boy was having a seizure and none of the workers were aware of it.

“Where the hell were they? Playing their little games,” said Reh. “So I had to go get one of them. He could have died.”

When Reh was 17, a couple attended the facility to adopt someone. When Reh met with them, he said it was like love at first sight and he knew that they had chosen him.

“They basically saved me,” said Reh. He remembers being adopted on a mid-December day in 1980. He has never been back to the centre since. “For about a dozen years after I left, I’d have flashbacks so crystal clear that an image would replace what I’m seeing, just in broad daylight, and it was like a constant reel of kids being beaten or whatever,” said Reh.

He said being at the facility made him paranoid. He could not trust anybody, and said he didn’t disclose any of the details of his abusive past to anybody.

He said he would flinch if someone came close to him and was always on edge.

He said he moved out onto his own in his mid 20s and became an alcoholic – an attempt, he said, “to bury it and just try to forget it all.”

But then he met Candi and her son John, who was seven at the time, and his life changed.

He said he thought he would never see the day when the facility would close, or he would be a plaintiff in a case against the province for what happened to him there.

The facility operated from 1961 to 2008. The class-action lawsuit was launched in December 2010.

Candi said Reh was sobbing happy tears when a tentative settlement in the case was reached last week. Thousands of former residents will be eligible for compensation if the settlement’s approved.

The tentative deal came after the province agreed to a $35-million settlement in a similar case involving former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre, a facility that also provided treatment and care for persons with developmental disabilities. That settlement included a written apology from Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Reh said he feels justice is being served.

“Oh yeah,” said Reh, raising his fist in the air. “Finally, something’s being done. And thank God that place is finally closed.”

Institutional abuse survivors await apologies from province

Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:47:40 GMT

Three major class-action lawsuits over institutional abuse were settled this year, resulting in $68 million for former residents.

COURTESY OF DAVID MCKILLOP / COURTESY OF DAVID MCKILLOP

David McKillop, with his wife Eileen, was the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the provincial government over the treatment of residents at Rideau Regional Centre.

By: Tim Alamenciak News reporter Toronto Star

David McKillop still has nightmares about what happened to him at Rideau Regional Centre, an Ontario institution for people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

“They were supposed to take care of you and make sure nothing happened to you,” said McKillop, the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the government over the institution. “I still dream about what happened, sexual assault and all of that. I have nightmares about getting beaten up.”

The province recently settled class-action lawsuits with survivors of Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls and of Southwestern Regional Centre in Chatham-Kent.

The settlements come on the heels of a major victory by former residents of Huronia Regional Centre, the largest and oldest institution of its kind in the province.

Collectively the three lawsuits are worth about $68 million. In the case of Huronia, oral apologies have been issued by the leaders of all three major provincial parties. The settlements for Rideau and Southwestern include requests for written apologies.

For Vici Clarke, whose brother Rob was in Rideau as a child, the apology will represent a major turning point.

“When the native residential school hearing happened and (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper apologized, my mom would look at the television and go, ‘Who’s going to apologize to Rob?’ ” said Clarke. “So for us, the apology is worth its weight in gold.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized to the former residents of Huronia Regional Centre on the floor of the legislature Dec. 9 after the landmark settlement was approved in court. Clarke and McKillop were there, but although Wynne mentioned Rideau, which closed in 2009, the apology was targeted toward Huronia residents.

The settlements for Rideau and Southwestern, which closed in 2008, must still be approved by a court before the claims process can begin. The province operated 16 such institutions, according to a list from the Ministry of Community and Social Services . The three institutions were the last to close and also the largest and oldest of Ontario’s facilities for those with intellectual disabilities.

While reaching a settlement is a major step in the process, informing former residents and having them file claims will present challenges.

“Many people are going to need somebody to assist them. If you look at who the population is of the class, many people have very low literacy levels,” said Clarke. “I think what’s happening now is there’s a commitment to make that process streamlined and straightforward for people.”

The legal team representing the class, Koskie Minsky LLP, is working with a company that specializes in accessible document design to help ease the paperwork process.

Meanwhile, Clarke hopes the settlements don’t overshadow the need for change in the current system. She says many in the public didn’t even know about the existence of institutions like Huronia, Rideau and Southwestern prior to the lawsuits.

“There’s a big danger that people will say, ‘Those big places are closed. . . . The asylums are closed. Things are much better for people now,’ ” said Clarke. “We would hope that people don’t take from this that it’s all said and done, and everything’s fine — absolutely not.”

‘Incredible moment’ as Rideau Regional settlement announced

Tue, 24 Dec 2013 19:42:34 GMT

By Bruce Deachman, OTTAWA CITIZEN

Vici Clarke calls the settlement between the province and residents of two of its former institutions a wonderful Christmas gift.

For the past two years, Clarke has acted as David McKillop’s litigation guardian, helping the one-time Rideau Regional Centre resident through legal proceedings as he, as representative plaintiff, led a class-action suit against the province.

“This is an incredible moment,” said Clarke, whose brother Rob was also a resident at Rideau Regional for 10 months. “People have had their experiences and lives validated and acknowledged, and for so long they weren’t taken seriously and their voices weren’t being heard about their experiences in these institutions.

“So we’re really pleased with the settlement. It’s a wonderful Christmas present.”

The province agreed to pay $32.7 million to former residents of Rideau Regional Centre, in Smiths Falls, and Southwestern Regional Centre in Blenheim, west of London, in an agreement announced Monday night.

The residential institutions were to provide care and treatment to people labelled as having developmental disabilities, but many former residents claimed they were physically, sexually and emotionally abused while living there.

Rideau Regional Centre was open from 1951 to 2009, while Southwestern operated from 1961 to 2008.

The Rideau lawsuit affects people who were residents of Rideau between 1963 and 2009 and who were alive as of Sept. 24, 2008. The Southwestern lawsuit affects those who were residents between 1963 and 2008 and who were alive as of Dec. 29, 2008. The lawsuits had been scheduled for March 2015.

McKillop was the initial plaintiff who brought forward the class action case against the province on behalf of former Rideau residents, in 2011. He lived at Rideau Regional for 17 years, and among his claims was that he was kicked so hard in the groin by staff there that he was subsequently unable to have children.

Almost $21 million of Monday’s announced agreement will be earmarked for former Rideau residents — an estimated 2,753 who qualify — with each receiving a minimum of $2,000, and those most severely abused eligible to get a maximum of $42,000.

Apart from the monetary settlement, each class member will receive a written apology from Premier Kathleen Wynne, while a commemorative plaque will be put at the site of Rideau Regional, which was sold in 2011 to a Smiths Falls developer.

As part of the settlement, however, the province denies all claims of abuse, and the court did not decide whether one side or the other was right.

The agreement, added Clarke, “is a fair and reasonable settlement that lends voice to a piece of Canadian history that few people know even happened.

“Our cases were based on the fact that the abuses happened, the government knew they happened, and they ignored the reports.

“And families were duped: They were told this is the best thing for your children. They were told, ‘Bring us your kids. We’ll take care of them, we’ll teach them.’ And that did not happen.”

Clarke noted, too, her gratification that the province has agreed to accept the claims of members of the class actions without forcing each to testify in what might, for many, have felt like an adversarial setting.

“They’re not going to be re-victimized,” she said, “and that is priceless.”

“Because David was the representative plaintiff, he had to be cross-examined on his affidavits, and that was incredibly hard because it brought back all those memories.”

The settlements come just three months after a similar agreement was reached between the province and former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia.

Ontario settles with survivors of two more institutions

Mon, 23 Dec 2013 19:36:43 GMT

On the heels of a groundbreaking apology and settlement over Huronia Regional Centre, the province has once again settled with two groups of survivors

By: Tim Alamenciak News reporter Toronto Star

On the heels of a groundbreaking apology and settlement over Huronia Regional Centre, the province has once again settled with two groups of survivors who filed class action lawsuits.

The province has reached settlements with the survivors of two other provincial institutions for people with intellectual disabilities that were the subject of class-action lawsuits by residents who say they suffered physical, emotional and psychological trauma during their time there.

“It’s the end of a long road for the survivors and their families. They put up with a lot,” said Kirk Baert, a lawyer with Koskie Minsky LLP, who represented survivors in both cases. “It is nice to get them a settlement just before Christmas.”

The two settlements, which are collectively worth $32.7-million, come on the heels of a landmark settlement and apology for survivors of Huronia Regional Centre, the most notorious asylum in a system that has widely been criticized as abusive .

Survivors of Rideau Regional Centre, which was open from 1951 to 2009, will be eligible to receive a portion of roughly $21-million in damages. Rideau was located in Smith Falls, Ontario and housed 2,650 people at its peak.

Southwestern Regional Centre, which was located in Chatham-Kent, operated from 1961 to 2008 and housed under 1,000 people in 1971. Survivors of that institution will qualify for a portion of $11-million.

The settlement still must be approved in court.

Premier Kathleen Wynne issued an apology on the floor of the Queen’s Park legislature in early December. For many survivors, the move was far more important than any financial restitution. In her apology, Wynne included Southwestern and Rideau.

The settlement calls for an additional apology to be made in the form of a published letter, according to Baert.

“The tentative settlements reached today are a turning point that I hope will help former residents to heal. I am pleased that we will now be able to present them to the court for its consideration,” Ontario Attorney-General John Gerretsen said in a news release late Monday

Ontario's Apology

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 20:37:47 GMT

Ontario's Apology to Former Residents of Regional Centres For People with Developmental Disabilities

December 9, 2013 - Transcript

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Good afternoon, everyone. It is not lost on me that this afternoon we are doing two very connected things. We are—I am—here to speak truth about a painful chapter in our history and to seek reconciliation with all of those who have been harmed. We will then pay tribute to a man who embodied the power of truth and reconciliation, so I draw on that strength as I offer this apology.

A government’s responsibility is to care for its people and to make sure they are protected and safe, and therein lies a basic trust between the state and the people. It is on that foundation of trust that everything else is built: our sense of self, our sense of community, our sense of purpose. When that trust is broken with any one of us, we all lose something; we are all diminished.

I want to address a matter of trust before this House and my assembled colleagues, but I am truly speaking to a group of people who have joined us this afternoon and to the many others who could not be here today. I am humbled to welcome to the Legislature today former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre; and the Rideau Regional Centre, in Smiths Falls; and also to address former residents of the Southwestern Regional Centre, near Chatham, along with their families and supporters. I want to welcome all of you, I want to honour your determination and your courage, and I want to thank you for being here to bear witness to this occasion.

Today we take responsibility for the suffering of these people and their families.

Aujourd’hui, nous assumons la responsabilité des souffrances subies par ces personnes et les membres de leur famille.

I offer an apology to the men, women and children of Ontario who were failed by a model of institutional care for people with developmental disabilities. We must look in the eyes of those who have been affected and those they leave behind and say we are sorry.

As Premier and on behalf of all the people of Ontario, I am sorry for your pain, for your losses and for the impact these experiences must have had on your faith in this province and in your government. I am sorry for what you and your loved ones experienced and for the pain that you carry to this day.

À titre de première ministre et au nom de l’ensemble de la population de l’Ontario, je suis désolée des peines, des pertes et de toutes les répercussions que vous avez subies et qui ont miné votre confiance dans la province et dans le gouvernement. Je suis désolée de ce que vous et vos êtres chers avez dû vivre, de même que pour la peine que vous avez endurée jusqu’à ce jour.

In the case of Huronia, some residents suffered neglect and abuse within the very system that was meant to provide them care

We broke faith with them and with you, and by doing so, we diminished ourselves. Over a period of generations and under various governments, too many of these men, women and children and their families were deeply harmed, and they continue to bear the scars and the consequences of this time. Their humanity was undermined. They were separated from their families and robbed of their potential, their comfort, their safety and their dignity. At Huronia, some of these residents were forcibly restrained, left in unbearable seclusion, exploited for their labour and crowded into unsanitary conditions. While the model of care carried out by this institution is now acknowledged to have been deeply flawed, there were also cases of unchecked physical and emotional abuse by some staff and residents.

Huronia was closed in 2009, when Ontario closed the doors to its last remaining provincial institutions for people with developmental disabilities. Today, Mr. Speaker, we no longer see people with developmental disabilities as something other; they are boys and girls, men and women with hopes and dreams, like everyone else. In Ontario, all individuals deserve our support, our respect and our care. We must look out for one another, take care of one another and challenge ourselves to be led by our sense of moral purpose before all else.

Today, we strive to support people with developmental disabilities so they can live as independently as possible and be more fully included in all aspects of their community. As a society, we seek to learn from the mistakes of the past, and that process continues.

I know, Mr. Speaker, that we have more to do, so we will protect the memory of all those who have suffered, help to tell their stories, and ensure that the lessons of this time are not lost.

We are so sorry.

Mr. Tim Hudak: I’m going to split my time with my colleague the member from Simcoe North, who has spoken about Huronia on many occasions here in the Ontario Legislature.

I’m a proud Ontarian. I love my province dearly. There’s no place I’d rather be or be from. But we have a very sad chapter in our history that demands an apology. When we do wrong, we need to speak to it plainly and honestly.

Compassion has always been part of what defines Ontario. It’s part of our character. The duty to support our most vulnerable is our government’s most important responsibility—to protect those who cannot protect themselves. When we fail that, we fail all Ontarians, and there is never an excuse.

As a province and as a government, we failed the children of the Huronia Regional Centre. These developmentally disabled boys and girls, men and women looked to us, as caretakers and as leaders, to be there for them, their protectors; instead, horrific stories of systemic neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. To abuse that trust and then to abuse the innocent lives is atrocious and inexcusable. It’s flesh and blood, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, sons and daughters. For too long, these boys, girls, men and women were out of sight, out of mind, the burden of that experience entirely on their shoulders and that incredible weight on the backs of their parents and families.

It’s truly unfortunate it took so long to get to this day, but we all owe an incredible debt of gratitude to those who fought to get us here, many of those in the gallery here today on this historic day.

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I want to offer my thanks to Marilyn and Jim Dolmage, Patricia Seth and Marie Slark for their inspiring bravery and incredible tenacity. You gave a face to the cause, a voice to those who could not speak up for themselves, and a peace to those who cannot join us here today.

We stand here today collectively and apologize to the families, the boys and girls, the men and women. We are truly, truly sorry. Our apologies will never erase the pain or the tragedy. There’s nothing, sadly, that we can do to take away the memories, to bring people back. But we must remember, and let us never forget this day, so that we never see it repeated again in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Garfield Dunlop: As the MPP for the area where the Huronia Regional Centre was located, I’m pleased to be here today. I want to thank the Premier for the apology and I want to thank the kind words of our leader, Tim Hudak.

I know that with the closure of the Huronia Regional Centre, a lot of pressure was put on the Community Living organizations across our province, and when we’re dealing with people with exceptionalities, I want to thank Community Living Huronia and Simcoe services in particular, the two major community living organizations in Simcoe county.

But I can tell you, the Premier did say—she said it right up front—we still have a lot to do. There are two things I hope that we can all, as MPPs, and I hope we can all, as community leaders, work on. One of them, of course, is some of the cases with how the police handle people with exceptionalities in extreme cases. I think there has already been some retraining done in that area, because we’ve had some pretty sad stories in that particular area.

The other one that I really hope we can zero in on is the people, the men and women who have raised their children; they were people born with exceptionalities, and they’ve raised them to adult ages, and now the people are at—they’re old people. Some of them have very feeble health. They’re having a very, very difficult time finding the services in our province to handle them. I hear it continually in my area, and I hope that that’s something that we can say to any government, whether it’s past or present or future, I should say, that we have to deal with that as well, because there is definitely an area of concern that we have to take care for people, as our leader has said.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and again, thank you, Premier, for bringing this. It’s a sign of leadership, both from my leader as well, to bring this apology today.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The victims, the women and men, girls and boys, who suffered abuse at the Huronia Regional Centre have waited a long time to hear two words from the Premier of Ontario: “I’m sorry.” And it’s important to understand why this apology could only be morally legitimate if it came from the first minister and not a member of cabinet. The survivors are citizens of Ontario, not wards of the province, not clients of the Ministry of Community and Social Services, and not simply claimants in a legal action against the Attorney General. They are citizens.

The courts have ruled that these citizens were neglected by our province when it had a duty of care, and the settlement mandated an apology. But it was always up to the Premier to dignify that apology. It’s up to the current Premier to speak on behalf of all previous Premiers and to speak through the highest office of our province’s democratic institution. This apology is an admission of wrongdoing, but it should also be a pledge that our province will never allow such neglect, such abuse, such a betrayal of our most vulnerable citizens, to ever happen again.

Ces excuses ne peuvent pas effacer le passé. Mais elles peuvent permettre aux survivants du Centre régional de la Huronie et à leur famille de retrouver un peu de paix afin de pouvoir aller de l’avant.

Sadly, many of the victims did not live to see this day, and many who wanted to be here in person could not attend because this event was scheduled at somewhat short notice, even after decades of delay. Hundreds are watching from home across this province, and some survivors and their families, friends and supporters travelled across winter roads to get to the Legislature this afternoon.

I hope they can take some solace in this apology, and I hope that the Premier will back up her words with actions. She must immediately clear away the roadblocks preventing survivors and their families from accessing their files. Sixty-five thousand pages of documents are owed to the survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre. Survivors should not have to file freedom of information requests to access their files. They should not incur any undue financial costs after all they have been through.

It’s not enough for the government to say that the files are lost or that the files are inaccessible. The Huronia Regional Centre survivors and families have waited long enough. The government must not diminish an apology with excuses. It must do whatever it takes to get the survivors the information they deserve. We cannot close this dark chapter in Ontario’s history until all of the survivors and all of their families are contacted, compensated and fully informed.

So let’s leave this historic moment of apology, which the Premier did very well in delivering, with open hearts. In fact, let’s make it open our hearts. Let’s learn from the past—absolutely—and let’s make sure that forevermore the province of Ontario looks after all of its citizens.

Applause.

Province of Ontario. News Release - Settlement Reached in Huronia Class Action Lawsuit

Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:31:40 GMT

A settlement agreement approved by the court today will give former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre who suffered harm while living at the facility access to compensation.

The $35 million agreement was approved in Superior Court as the result of a class action lawsuit brought against Ontario by former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia. Class members can apply for compensation through an independent claims administrator.

If money is left over after class members have been compensated and legal fees have been paid, Ontario will invest up to $5 million in programs to help people with developmental disabilities.

Premier Wynne will deliver a formal apology to former Huronia residents in the Legislature on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013.

Quick Facts

The settlement will provide compensation to those people who were residents of Huronia between 1945-2009 and suffered harm. Huronia provided supports, services and residential care to people with developmental disabilities until it closed in 2009.
Former residents of Huronia can receive a copy of their personal resident files at no charge by calling 1-855-376-9886 or by visiting the Ministry of Community and Social Services website .
Approximately 18,000 people with a developmental disability are receiving residential supports in Ontario communities, with thousands more receiving other supports, services and funding that help them live, work and participate in community life.
Today, December 3, is the United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

“Today’s ruling marks a significant milestone in this important case. My hope is that former residents of Huronia will now be able to move forward with dignity.”

John Gerretsen - Attorney General

“Ontario closed the doors to its last remaining facilities for people with developmental disabilities in 2009. Today, our vision for developmental services is a program that supports people with a developmental disability to live as independently as possible and to be more fully included in all aspects of society.”

Ted McMeekin - Minister of Community and Social Services

Judge approves $35M settlement over alleged abuse at Ontario institution

Tue, 03 Dec 2013 18:59:49 GMT

TORONTO -- A $35-million settlement will better serve the former residents of an Ontario institution for the developmentally disabled than a long and difficult trial into alleged abuse at the facility, a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

Justice Barbara Conway approved the deal after hearing emotional submissions from former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia, Ont., as well as a detailed account of the centre's grim history.

With the plaintiffs growing older and no guarantees of winning at trial, "the benefits of an immediate and certain settlement cannot be overstated," she told the Toronto court.

The agreement, which also calls for the province to formally apologize for what happened at the now-shuttered facility, was signed in September just hours before the case was scheduled to go to trial.

The two lead plaintiffs in the case told the court Tuesday that while no amount of money can erase the years of abuse they suffered as children at the facility, the settlement funds will help ensure former residents of the institution get justice.

"We appreciate the apology, but no amount of money will give us our lives back," said Marie Slark, flanked by her longtime friend and co-plaintiff Patricia Seth.

She raised concerns about the claim process, saying many plaintiffs will need help to fill out forms and navigate the system.

Those fears were repeated as others took the stand. Only a handful opposed the deal, though many more voiced their worries in written statements filed with the court.

Charles Fannon, who spent seven years at Huronia, condemned what he called paltry compensation for what he and his peers suffered.

He also objected to having legal fees paid out from the settlement fund, arguing the province should cover those costs along with those incurred processing the claim.

"Thirty-five million is 35 million and that's what it should be," Fannon said.

Kirk Baert, who represents the plaintiffs, acknowledged the amount fell short of the $2 billion the plaintiffs sought, and that no sum could make up for the abuse and neglect they allegedly endured.

"There's no settlement that I know of that can make us go back in time and make these things not happen," he said.

"We have to look at what is achievable in reality." The suit covered those institutionalized at the centre between 1945 and 2009, many of whom are now aged or dying.

It alleged residents suffered almost daily humiliation and abuse at the overcrowded facility, which closed in 2009. Some said they worked in the fields for little or no money, and recalled being forced to walk around with no pants on as punishment for speaking out of turn.

The case's last-minute resolution meant former residents weren't called to testify -- a boon for some but a bitter disappointment for those eager to have their experiences come to light.

Some seized their chance Tuesday, recalling painful details of their childhood before a courtroom packed with those who share their harrowing memories of the centre.

"Every time these survivors get together, there are more horrible stories about what happened to them," said Marilyn Dolmage, Slark's litigation guardian.

It's important that all those who were harmed at the facility receive the help they need to access the settlement, she said.

Seth and Slark were both awarded a $15,000 honorarium for shouldering the burden of representing the plaintiffs to the public. However, the money will only be doled out if any funds remain after all other claims have been filled.

Details of the claim process, including wording of the claim form, will be determined at a future hearing, as will the amount to be paid in legal fees and where that money will come from.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is scheduled to make her formal apology Dec. 9 at the provincial legislature.

Asked what she would like to hear from the premier, Dolmage wouldn't venture any suggestions, saying she wants it to be "from her heart."

By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press

Family of Child 1751 Maurice Middlestadt surprised by Star story

kristen@clientfirstcanada.com (Kristen Szykoluk) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:24:39 GMT

The family of Maurice Middlestadt, the 8-year-old boy who died at Huronia Regional Centre and may have been buried with marker 1751, was shocked to learn of him. The family knew little about the boy outside of whispers.

By: Tim Alamenciak Toronto Star

All that existed of Maurice Middlestadt were rumours. His family members whispered about a boy who had been sent away shortly after his mother died.

The Middlestadt’s was a family tree with one branch that ended in a question mark — until two of Maurice’s surviving nieces recognized Lionel Middlestadt, Maurice’s father, in a front-page Toronto Star story this past weekend .

“Reading that letter (from Lionel) in the paper, it brought me to tears,” said Joyce Burns, 71. “I just felt it gave us a more complete picture.”

Burns and her sister, Beverly Kavanagh, 66, are the nieces of Maurice, the 8-year-old boy who is one of two possible children the Star identified as being buried with marker 1751 at the Huronia Regional Centre cemetery in Orillia, Ont.

Thanks to shoddy record-keeping, either Maurice Middlestadt or Lena Potts, 15, could have been the child buried with the marker 1751. The children arrived at the institution a month apart and died just a month and a day apart from one another.

Maurice spent more than two years in Huronia Regional Centre, which was recently the subject of a $35-million class action settlement between survivors and the provincial government. The suit alleged physical, sexual and emotional abuse was rampant at the institution. The provincial government denied allegations of abuse in its statement of defence.

“This child, this poor child. Two years of misery,” said Kavanagh.

“See we have no real history of my mother's family because of how she grew up. She was given away also. And we never understood why,” said Kavanagh.

She had only heard mention of a child with intellectual disabilities who was sent away, but the family members themselves had scant details.

“Nobody ever talked about it. There was nobody to ask really,” said Kavanagh. She herself has struggled raising a child with attention deficit disorder.

Their mother, Esther Middlestadt, was born Feb. 11, 1917, when Maurice was just three-and-a-half years old.

In 1918, the Spanish flu raged across the globe. It infected everyone in the family, but Leah Middlestadt, Maurice and Esther’s mother, was hit harder than the others. She, and the baby she was carrying, were both dead by Oct. 28, 1918, leaving Lionel Middlestadt alone with Maurice, Esther and two other sons.

Unable to care for Maurice, who needed 24-hour supervision and assistance eating, Lionel desperately sought a home for him. Lionel and his four children eventually moved into his brother’s Cabbagetown house.

Maurice was admitted to Huronia Regional Centre Dec. 6, 1918. Shortly afterward Lionel gave his other three children away to relatives, including Esther. The burden was too great for him then, but he would later marry again and have eleven children.

Kavanagh and Burns were shocked by the letters from Lionel, which appeared every few months and politely inquired about his son’s status. The man had a reputation as a curmudgeon.

“We just thought he gave up these three children and went on and re-married and hardly ever saw them, but he was dealing with this situation,” said Burns. “Like I said it brought me to tears and I just felt so much empathy for him, and it gave me a different feeling for that history.”

Lillian Golden, now 97, was Lionel’s niece and close friend of his three surviving children. She had no idea Maurice existed until the Star reported on his case.

“It's unbelievable, honestly. I really am so surprised about it all,” Golden said. “I'd like him to be buried …in his own grave, with a name and everything else.”

Newly released case files reveal details of Huronia Regional Centre children

Sun, 20 Oct 2013 16:37:46 GMT

By Tim Alamenciak and Marco Chown Oved, The Star

In life, they were both “imbeciles” — developmentally delayed children placed in Orillia’s Hospital for the Feeble-Minded on either side of Christmas 1918.

In death, Maurice Middlestadt and Lena Potts are united by a number: 1751.

The Star set out to determine out who is buried, without a name, in grave 1751 at the centre’s cemetery. Despite an analysis of graveyard maps, a death registry and case files, it is still unclear if Lena Potts, 15, or Maurice Middlestadt, eight, is child 1751.

The two children arrived in the institution a month apart. They died a month and one day apart. Each of their stories, as documented in letters, medical notes and admissions records obtained by the Star, provide a window into how Ontario treated people with developmental disabilities for more than 100 years.

Tragic beginnings

Lionel Middlestadt supported his wife and four kids by working as a printer in 1918 Toronto. His wife, Leah Schwartz, was pregnant with their fifth child.

The Spanish flu, raging around the world that year, changed everything.

Leah, 27, fell ill on Oct. 17, 1918. The whole family had the flu, but she was sicker than the others. Leah, and the child inside her, would not survive more than two weeks. Both were dead by Oct. 28, 1918. Lionel was left alone with four young children, including developmentally delayed Maurice, who was just five years old.

Soon the burden of care required by Maurice, not to mention three other children, became too much for Lionel. The child was unable to feed himself and required round-the-clock care. Lionel began missing work to take care of the youngster. He moved his family in with his brother Morris, who was living on Geneva Ave. in Cabbagetown.

In his search for a place that could take care of Maurice, Lionel would set in motion a chain of events that would end in the 5-year-old’s death behind the institution’s walls.

More than 90 years after his death, two Star reporters uncovered his case file and that of 15-year-old Lena Potts. Thanks to shoddy record keeping and torn folders, it’s impossible to tell which of the two children lies buried in grave 1751. But the rest of their stories remain intact in more than 100 pages of case files.

The files were obtained from the Archives of Ontario through a Freedom of Information Act request. Thousands of other files remain locked in the public archives, shielded by privacy laws. A recent class-action lawsuit over abuses at the Huronia Regional Centre resulted in a $35-million settlement and the promise to disclose 65,000 documents such as police reports, witness testimony and internal incident reports.

The patient case files do not contain such objective information. They detail the experiences of the children at Huronia through the eyes of their doctors and attendants.

Lionel wanted to place Maurice where he could be properly cared for. First he turned to the Home for Incurable Children, a facility once located at 152 Bloor St. E., but was rejected because Maurice had no terminal disease. Lionel telephoned the Protestant Orphans’ Home, but was told the facility only took healthy children, which Maurice was not considered to be at the time.

Door after door closed on Lionel. The Boys’ Home on George St., just south of Gerrard St., turned them away. The Jewish Orphans’ Home finally agreed to take Maurice.

After a week, staff from the home phoned Lionel. They could no longer handle the boy. Lionel turned to the government. Dr. Helen MacMurchy, the “Inspector of the Feeble Minded” at the time, took up his case.

“I am enclosing herewith a statement of a very sad case, which our recent epidemic of Influenza has rendered particularly urgent,” she wrote in a Nov. 15, 1918, letter to the Hospital for the Feeble-Minded.

Dr. MacMurchy clearly had power — Maurice was admitted by Dec. 3 the same year.

On Dec. 6, Lionel bundled Maurice up against the cold, snugged a toque on his head and took him to Orillia; it was the last hope for a desperate father.

An urgent need for help

Lena Potts did not have such concerned parents. When she arrived at the Hospital for the Feeble-Minded at age 12, one month to the day after Maurice, she hadn’t seen them in at least five years.

Ever since she was seven, she lived with her twin sister, Beatrice, and their younger brother, James, as wards of the Children’s Aid Society, cared for by Rev. A.M. Pedley at the children’s home in Woodstock, Ont.

Starting in the summer of 1918, Pedley wrote repeatedly to the superintendent of the hospital in Orillia, requesting the admission of the three Potts children.

In the background forms he filled out, Pedley described Lena as an “imbecile,” and said her condition was due to neglect as well as “feeble minded parents.” Imbecile was used as a medical term, meaning her IQ was between 21 and 50 — slightly smarter than an “idiot” (IQ of 0-20), but not quite as bright as a “moron” (IQ of 51-70).

Her father, James Potts, was an alcoholic (“intemperate” in the language of the day) labourer and their mother, whose name wasn’t even known to the reverend, was described as both “intemperate and immoral.”

Lena was a sickly girl before she arrived in Orillia. She had suffered from severe periodontitis, a disease caused by bacteria in the mouth that cause the gums to swell and the teeth to fall out.

“A portion of her tongue dropped off after an acute attack,” Pedley wrote. “(Though) she is beginning again to clearly enunciate.”

Lena suffered from rashes. “When run down, she breaks out in purple blotches,” Pedley reported. She had tremors causing her limbs to shake involuntarily.

Despite her medical conditions, her intellectual disability and being abandoned by her parents, Lena could read “very well.”

Something must have happened that summer of 1918 to cause Pedley to seek to get the Potts kids out of his care.

His first letter to hospital superintendent J.P. Downey came in May: “I hope you will be able to admit these two children without much delay.”

By September, his tone had become much more urgent: “There is a strong feeling expressed by the community that these children, Lena and Beatrice, should be transferred to your institution without further delay.”

In December, even in the formal language of the time, he had dropped all pretense of politeness. “Are you ready to receive the above children? An urgent need presents itself and we would like to carry out the arrangement made for them and bring them down.”

On the very last day of the year, Lena and Beatrice were accepted. Within a week the girls arrived on the snowy shores of Lake Simcoe with a change of clothes packed in a trunk.

Happy and contented

The letters came every three months.

“Dear sir,” begins one letter. “Would you please inform me as to how my son Maurice Middlestadt is getting along, as he was in a poor condition when I was in the Hospital last Good Friday.”

“. . . We beg to say that Maurice Middlestadt is in fairly good health. He eats and sleeps well and is getting quite fat,” reads a response letter signed simply Superintendent.

It’s unclear from the case files whether or how often Lionel visited Maurice, but the letters don’t mention any visits following one on Good Friday, 1919. They are dated roughly every three months and, along with checking up on Maurice, Lionel paid his rent at the institution. The government was charging $1.50 per week for the child to stay there — far less than the statutory rate of $5 per week.

Each response says the boy is doing well.

A rail-thin boy with a shuffling gait, three-foot-one Maurice Middlestadt officially entered Huronia on Dec. 6, 1918. The case files describe him as an “imbecile,” with an IQ similar to Lena’s.

They wrote he had a “blank appearance,” but was described as “very jovial.” His health seemed good though he was “rather thin” on admittance. He carried with him a toque, overcoat, coat, pairs of pants, shoes and socks, several shirts and a pair of mittens, according to the admission log.

His father sent two pairs of underwear along just days after he arrived. Then he began writing to inquire about Maurice’s condition.

“He is well-nourished and comfortable and appears always to be happy and contented. Otherwise there is no change in his general helpless condition,” reads one Oct. 19, 1920, letter. The response was typical of Maurice’s two years in the institution.

But the tone of the letters takes a turn. On June 25, 1921, a letter is sent warning that Maurice “is not thriving and has recently developed an abscess.”

Another letter comes on July 6, 1921, warning there is no improvement and the outcome is “uncertain.”

Maurice Middlestadt died on Friday, Aug. 5, 1921. He had scars on his chest and side from the abscesses. His official cause of death was listed as tuberculosis.

Word was sent to his father informing him of Maurice’s death and requesting $15 — the cost of burying an 8-year-old boy in a field behind the farm, with an oblong white tombstone bearing a number carved into it.

A death caused by infection

After nurses admitted Lena, noting dutifully that she stood four-foot-two, and weighed 54 and a half pounds, it’s as if she disappeared into the institution.

The only record of her first two years there is a handwritten note, perhaps attached to her bed or her belongings, on which an adult has written: “Lena Potts. Moron low grade (?) Heredity: Pat. and Mat. (mother intemperate and immoral).”

Beneath this curt description is a line labelled “signature.”

In the careful cursive of a child who has just learned to write are the deliberate letters spelling out “Lena Potts.”

Lena was admitted to hospital with a fever, coughing and wheezing and complaining of a sore chest in December 1920. She stayed for one week while she recovered from what appears to be a flu, with nurses feeding her warm milk, hot chocolate and even eggnog, as it was the festive season.

While doctors noted she was “plump” and “well nourished,” they also recorded evidence of her poor oral health.

“She has a very foul breath,” wrote one doctor. “A peculiar, heavy, metallic odour of breath, which permeates whole atmosphere when she is in small room. The gums about margins of teeth are red, swollen and unhealthy in appearance. The teeth are very irregular and (there is) evidence of old inflammatory condition.”

Eight months later, in the hot and heavy days of August, Lena was back in hospital, and things were much worse.

She had a bright rash and was complaining of rheumatism. Her rash got darker and spread to her buttocks. Then she started vomiting regularly.

Soon the rash was bleeding and there was blood found in her stool.

“The vascular irruption has become haemorrhagic and is spreading in extent,” wrote a doctor on Sept. 1.

While her fever broke over the next few days, nurses recorded a weak and irregular pulse. Whenever she wasn’t sleeping, she was delirious for long periods, nurses wrote.

Lena Potts was 15 when she died at 5 a.m. on Sept. 4, 1921. Her autopsy would reveal a swollen spleen and chronic tuberculosis in one lung.

“Body somewhat wasted and covered with eruptions . . . spots had become gangrenous,” recorded the coroner.

Her official cause of death is listed as “Purpura Hemorrhagica.”

Ontario’s current chief pathologist, Dr. Michael Pollanen, reviewed Lena’s autopsy report at the request of the Star. He concluded she likely died of fulminant sepsis — the rapid onset of a whole-body inflammation caused by severe infection.

Because antibiotics hadn’t been discovered, Lena likely suffered from multiple festering infections in her mouth and lungs her whole life. Eventually the infections took over.

Pollanen speculated it could have been a simple meningococcemia, pneumococcemia or streptococcus that led to her death. Even with the aid of modern medicine, people still die of rapid-onset infections today, Pollanen said.

Ten years after Lena’s death, her twin sister, Beatrice, was transferred to the Ontario Hospital in Woodstock. It appears Beatrice died in 1944. She would have been 37 years old.

Neither funeral nor ceremony

Both Maurice and Lena were buried behind the farm, unceremoniously. Former staff of the institution say there were no funerals; people simply disappeared and a new numbered marker popped up.

The faded oblong tombstone labelled 1751 was planted in the ground in 1921. It’s still unclear whether Maurice or Lena lay underneath it.

Their stone was removed in the 1970s and used to make a walkway for one of the nearby group homes. In 1990, a chaplain at Huronia Regional Centre realized the error, but rather than replacing the stones in their original positions, staff assembled them in one big square.

The fate of Lena and Maurice was shared by more than 1,440 others who died in the institution and were buried in numbered graves.

First they were hidden behind the stone walls of the institution — then beneath the ground.

Newly released case files reveal details of Huronia Regional Centre children

Sun, 20 Oct 2013 15:29:38 GMT

Child 1751 could be either Maurice Middlestadt, 8, or Lena Potts, 15. Thanks to shoddy record keeping, exactly which child lies in grave 1751 is unknown. Their stories open a window into the institution’s operations.

By: Tim Alamenciak and Marco Chown Oved Toronto Star

In life, they were both “imbeciles” — developmentally delayed children placed in Orillia’s Hospital for the Feeble-Minded on either side of Christmas 1918.

In death, Maurice Middlestadt and Lena Potts are united by a number: 1751.

Tragic beginnings

Lionel Middlestadt supported his wife and four kids by working as a printer in 1918 Toronto. His wife, Leah Schwartz, was pregnant with their fifth child.

The Spanish flu, raging around the world that year, changed everything.

In his search for a place that could take care of Maurice, Lionel would set in motion a chain of events that would end in the 5-year-old’s death behind the institution’s walls.

More than 90 years after his death, two Star reporters uncovered his case file and that of 15-year-old Lena Potts. Thanks to shoddy record keeping and torn folders, it’s impossible to tell which of the two children lies buried in grave 1751 . But the rest of their stories remain intact in more than 100 pages of case files.

The files were obtained from the Archives of Ontario through a Freedom of Information Act request. Thousands of other files remain locked in the public archives, shielded by privacy laws. A recent class-action lawsuit over abuses at the Huronia Regional Centre resulted in a $35-million settlemen t and the promise to disclose 65,000 documents such as police reports, witness testimony and internal incident reports.