Nunavut judge to decide future of proposed class action lawsuit against feds, Nunavut, N.W.T.

A Nunavut judge is expected to decide soon on whether to allow a class action lawsuit involving a former teacher convicted of sexually assaulting students to go ahead.

Justice Paul Bychok held a special chambers hearing on Feb. 14to hear arguments on whether the class action should be allowed.

The lawsuit, filed in 2015, says the governments of Canada, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories did not do enough to protect students from predatory abuse. The governments may have known about the abuse without doing anything about it, the statement of claim says.

Maurice Cloughley was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1996 for abusing nine children in six communities spread across Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.The charges to whichhe pleaded guilty included seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault.

Cloughley committed the abuses while teaching in those communities between 1959 and 1979.

In 2004, a lawsuit with 31 plaintiffs was filed at the Nunavut Court of Justice against the three governments. In 2008, a second similar lawsuit with 32 plaintiffs was filed against the three governments.

But the lawsuits stalled until 2015, when two law firms teamed up and combined the cases into a single new case which is the current case being considered.

For the last four years, lawyers from Ahlstrom Wright Oliver & Cooper and Morris Martin Moore have been trying to get thiscase approved as a class action lawsuit.

In Nunavut, there is no legislation that allows for class actions, unlike most other jurisdictions. Class actions can still be pursued, but require special permission from the court.

The new combined file had been sealed until earlier this month, when Chief Justice Neil Sharkey lifted the seal after an appeal was made by a member of the media.

3 complainants would represent collective experience

The statement of claim says three complainants would testify and their testimony would represent the shared experiences of about 50 complainants between 1969 and 1981.

All complainants experienced sexual abuse by Cloughley while underage, the lawsuit says.

The governments "failed to respond to actual or constructive knowledge of acts of sexual abuse committed in its facilities by Cloughley, failed to properly investigate and supervise Cloughley, and failed to ensure the safety of the plaintiffs," the statement of claim says.

The statement says Cloughley coerced children with gifts, special attention and extracurricular activities to pose for pornographic photographs, take showers and baths and perform sexual acts on each other, including intercourse.

Earlier this year in January, lawyers for the plaintiffs filed an application to have the lawsuit approved as a class action with three representative plaintiffs.

"The defendants had not put forth their positions as of the date of this brief," said the document, filed Jan. 28, meaning the three governments have not yet filed anystatements of defence.

After hearing the application in February,Bychok reserved his decision until early April, according to the court docket. But the decision has not yet been released, according to the Nunavut Court of Justice.