Merchant Law gets class action lawsuit against province certified

The provincial government and Merchant Law Group could find themselves in another legal battle.

A class action lawsuit has been certified against the Government of Saskatchewan. It’s on behalf of people who were physically or sexually abused by someone, like a foster parent, while under the care of the province.

The claim alleges the government failed to pursue compensation for the children as victims of crime or through a civil suit.

“The basis of this claim is that the Government of Saskatchewan should have helped them make that claim (to receive compensation for the abuse they suffered),” Regina-based lawyer Tony Merchant said.

“The Government of Saskatchewan cared for people and treated these children as the children of the government. The social services department didn’t recover for them as they should have.”

The lawsuit could include all people who were in the custody of the province between Jan. 1, 1959 and Nov. 14, 2017, and suffered an injury as a result of abuse by a third party. This would also include children who were taken from their families during the Sixties Scoop.

“I think it will be many, many thousands because we know that all kinds of wrongs occurred in social services and unfortunately continue to occur,” Merchant said.

He said the compensation a person would be entitled to would depend on the type of abuse they experienced.

“If they were sexually abused, they ought to be getting hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it depends on the individual wrong,” Merchant said.

He said the law group had been contacted by people who felt like they’ve been wronged.

“We saw that the department of social services hadn’t taken the kind of action that they ought to have taken so we took that to court,” Merchant said.

He said similar actions like this are being pursued in Merchant Law offices across Canada.

Natalie Huber, the assistant deputy minister in the Ministry of Social Services, sent an email to 980 CJME with a response to the situation.

“A class action lawsuit, which was originally commenced in 2012, has been certified against both the Ministry of Social Services and the Public Guardian and Trustee of Saskatchewan,” Huber wrote. “Both parties have filed a Statement of Defence. It is important to note that no individuals have been named as defendants in the lawsuit.

“As the class action lawsuit is before the courts, the Ministry isn’t able to provide additional information about the suit at this time.”

The certification is not a decision on the merits of the lawsuit, but is a part of the proper procedure of one. It allows the class action to continue to the next stage.

The court has not decided if the government has done anything wrong.