Sixteen years after the doors at New Westminster’s Woodlands School permanently closed, many survivors of abuse at the former mental institution are still waiting for money from the BC Government.
Since a class action suit affecting 1,500 victims was approved ten years ago, settlements have only been reached for close to 900.
Survivors advocate Greg Schiller says government stall tactics have also been hurting taxpayers.
“They refuse to acknowledge their abuse or pay them anything and they’re spending more money to not pay them. HOW MANY FEEL LIKE THIS IS NEVER GOING TO BE RESOLVED? Well, all of them feel that way. They all tell me, ‘You know, the government’s waiting for us to die.”
Victims who went to Woodlands before August of 1974 are not considered eligible for funding.
Schiller says they agreed to accept $ 15,000 each, but that was rejected by government lawyers.
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