Supreme Court declines Diocese of London appeal
The Chatham Voice--February 11, 2021
A ruling by the lower courts of Ontario allowing a survivor of sexual assault to reopen her case against the Diocese of London stands after the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the case. The Supreme Court of Canada, by convention, gave no reason for declining to intervene in the case.
The decision ends one more chapter in the legal battle between Irene Deschenes and the Roman Catholic Diocese of London. Between 1971 and 1973, Deschenes was sexually abused by Father Charles Sylvestre at St. Ursula School in Chatham. She was 10 years old at the time.
CBC - April 16, 2026 Halifax, NS - Timothy Clark reported sexual abuse by a priest in 1984 but says the church ignored him. Decades later, his claim was approved under a class-action settlement against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, yet he and more than 60 other accepted claimants have still not been paid. Delays are blamed on claim reviews, interviews, and late submissions, leaving many victims frustrated by poor communication and the lengthy process.
Journalist plans to create new archive of residential school survivor stories — before it's too late
CBC - April 14, 2026 A new project from award-winning journalist Connie Walker aims to create an archive of testimonies of abuse at residential schools before the accounts are destroyed in September 2027. The project at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where she is the Velma Rogers Research Chair in the School of Journalism, aims to preserve residential school survivors' stories and raise awareness about the upcoming destruction of Independent Assessment Process (IAP) records. The files are being retained until 2027 to give survivors a chance to request a copy, opt-in to having the file preserved by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, or both.