When former Woodlands residents gathered in New Westminster in 2011 to watch the Centre Block demolition, they vowed to continue seeking justice for victims of abuse.
On Saturday, their hopes were realized when the provincial government announced people who attended the institution before Aug. 1, 1974 would be compensated for abuse suffered at Woodlands and would receive $10,000 each.
“This is a historic occasion that closes this dark chapter in B.C. history,” Woodlands survivor Bill MacArthur said in a press release. “Today acknowledges and vindicates Woodlands survivors, who I hope can live the rest of their lives with a sense of self-respect and dignity.”
The previous provincial government agreed to provide compensation of $3,000 to $150,000 to residents who had suffered abuse at Woodlands, but the courts excluded hundreds of former residents who had suffered abuse before Aug. 1, 1974, when the Crown Proceedings Act took effect.
MacArthur and other former residents attending the demolition of the Centre Block in November 2011 pledged to continue fighting for compensation for all former Woodlands residents. On demolition day, New West resident Richard McDonald told the Record that then-NDP leader Adrian Dix was 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 at the time. “It’s a good thing we have got him on our side. We are not going to give up.”
On Saturday, Dix, now the NDP’s health minister, announced the provincial government’s compensation plan.
“I want to recognize the Woodlands survivors, many who I met on this issue more than a decade ago,” he said. “They have persisted against prejudice and mistreatment from the province for decades, even after the school shut its doors and a settlement agreement was reached with some former residents. Today’s announcement brings some small measure of justice for them, and I am very proud of the premier and many advocates for making it happen.”
Woodlands, which operated in New Westminster from 1878 until 1996, was known as Woodlands School in 1950 and renamed Woodlands in 1974. Woodlands provided care for children and adults with developmental disabilities and some individuals with both developmental disabilities and mental illness.
