Northern Ontario diocese to launch fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse

A Catholic diocese in northern Ontario is launching a fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse which took place over a 60-year period.

An investigation from Radio-Canada's Enquête in March found that 12 priests and volunteers at the diocese of Hearst-Moosonee abused some 40 people from the 1950s to the 2010s. Almost all of the victims were minors at the time of the abuse.

The diocese includes about two dozen parishes – many north of Highway 11– and serves a mostly francophone population.

Bishop Pierre Olivier Tremblay told CBC News the diocese is creating a fund, and a process, for those victims to apply for some monetary compensation.

"It's a very simple plan, a simple program which would be made in a very confidential way," he said.

Tremblay said the diocese has hired a social worker who would meet with victims who wish to share their story in a confidential way.

"Then there would be an independent evaluation on the impact of what the victim has been through, " Tremblay said.

"And there would be a proposal made to the survivors, regarding monetary compensation offered to the victim."

Tremblay said victims could choose to sue the diocese, but the process he has proposed would avoid questions in court and would remain confidential.

He said they would also get compensation a lot faster than if they chose to go through the courts.

At least one victim, Yves Villeneuve, hired London, Ont.-based lawyer Rob Talach to sue the diocese and was able to get an out-of-court settlement from the church.

Tremblay said because the diocese is just starting to launch its fund now, it hasn't arrived at a final number for the money it will be able to set aside for victims.

But he did say the money collected so far comes from the parishes themselves.