The lawyer for several victims of sexual abuse at the old Oakalla Prison in Burnaby says the process of each former inmate pursuing legal action individually… is moving at a snail’s pace.
Back in January, a settlement between Jim Poyner’s clients and the province was not approved.
A decision was made not to appeal–leaving the option of each victim filing separate legal action.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get through all these cases. In most of the cases that we’ve got, we’re waiting for information to come from different government sources that will allow us to present the claims on behalf of these people.”
Poyner says the number of former inmates who have come forward so far, is in the range of 30 or 40.
He says he’s not sure how many they’ll be able to process–saying it depends on how much information they can get on behalf of each claimiant.
He also says some will decide not to proceed.
Inmates were abused over a 21 year period by a guard at Oakalla.
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