New Westminster resident Richard McDonald is among the former Woodlands residents who will continue to seek justice for victims of abuse.
Many former residents recently gathered at the former Woodlands site to watch the Centre Block tower be demolished. While they celebrated the demolition, many said they wouldn't have closure until all former residents are compensated for the abuse that took place at Woodlands School.
Survivors of the New Westminster facility, which operated as Woodlands School from 1950 to 1996, filed a class-action lawsuit in 2002, and 850 former students were expected to be eligible to receive compensation. While the provincial government agreed to settle with Woodlands sur-vivors for between $3,000 and $150,000, depending on the level of abuse each person suffered, the courts excluded hundreds of former residents who suffered abuse occurring before Aug. 1, 1974, when the Crown Proceedings Act took effect. New Westminster resident Richard McDonald was among the former Woodlands residents who recently visited Victoria seeking compensation for all former residents.
"We got turned down by the premier," said McDonald, who lived at Woodlands for 10 years but is among those unable to apply for compensation. "We wanted her to change it so we could include everything."
Attorney-General Shirley Bond told The Vancouver Sun that it's a difficult issue, but the government is respecting the rules that have been set in place.
"As difficult as today is for the survivors of Woodlands, this government put a settlement process in place," she said.
"Hundreds of individuals will receive compensation and as difficult as it is, there will always be a line, and I think we've made that decision based on the principles that have been placed in this legislature and upheld by the Court of Appeal."
NDP leader Adrian Dix is pushing the provincial government to provide compensation to all victims of abuse at Woodlands, regardless of the date approved by the courts.
"He is going to continue to fight for us," McDonald said. "It's a good thing we have got him on our side. We are not going to give up."
New Westminster MLA Dawn Black said it is "just appalling" that some people have been left out of the compensation proceedings. She said Dix has stated this will be one of the first issues he'll address if he becomes premier.
"Clearly picking an arbitrary day is just unjust," she said.
