$60 million settles sexual abuse suit

Quebec’s Brothers of the Sacred Heart agreed to pay $60 million to settle two class-action lawsuits on clerical sexual abuse.

The suits, filed in 2016 and 2019, were settled out of court. The agreement must be approved by the Superior Court.

The two class actions “targeted no less than 90 aggressors,” religious and ex-religious, said Pierre Boivin, one of the victims’ lawyers.  Many are now deceased.

In a statement issued June 29, the Quebec leaders of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart made a point of officially apologizing to the victims. “This type of behaviour undermines our work of education and reflects badly on all those who have carried it out with dignity and integrity,” said Br. Donald Bouchard, provincial superior of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.