Oblates Indigenous Sexual Abuse Class Action Lawsuit Builds Steam

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate is under fire as more and more women from Indigenous communities throughout Quebec share their stories of sexual abuse by a once-lauded Catholic priest who worked in their territory for four decades, until his death in 1992.

Father Alexis Joveneau, the alleged abuser, reportedly arrived in Quebec from Belgium in the early 1950s, where he worked in several remote Innu communities for four decades before dying in Unaman Shipu, also known as La Romaine, in 1992.

Indigenous Survivors File Class Action Lawsuit Denouncing Decades of Abuse

Alleged victims of Joveneau testified before the federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIWG), revealing how the charismatic priest had abused them as kids. A separate missing Indigenous women class action lawsuit has since been filed against the RCMP accusing the police agency of systemic negligence rooted in colonialism.

Since the MMIWG federal inquiry, dozens more survivors, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, have come forward claiming to be victims of abuse by Joveneau and other Oblate priests.

Following the MMIWG inquiry, which took place in 2017, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The 2018 class action was launched several months after the women went public with stories of how they were sexually assaulted by Joveneau. The case has been building steam ever since.

In fact, some experts foresee the numbers of possible victims coming forward rising. Dr. John Bradford told Top Class Actions that the “climate and environment today makes it easier to come forward as victims, without social embarrassment… The social environment is more accepting of victims to come forward.”

Alleged Sexual Abuse Victim Numbers Rise Exponentially

When the 2018 class action lawsuit was first launched against the Catholic religious order, it had 30 claimants. Since the initial filing, the class action lawsuit has reportedly grown from 30 claimants to 190 Indigenous and non-Indigenous claimants from all across Quebec.

The First Nations where allegations of sexual abuse by priests with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate reportedly multiplied are in areas where the clergy allegedly tried to “silence repeated sexual assaults it was well aware of,” according to the complaint. 

Montreal sexual abuse class actions lawyer, Robert Kugler, told Top Class Actions in an exclusive interview that class action lawsuits are “tailor made” for sexual assault cases. According to the lawyer, class action lawsuits present survivors with a priceless opportunity they normally do not have, and that is access to justice.

Kugler, who represented claimants in some of the most important sexual abuse class actions, explains that survivors are often prevented from seeking legal aid due to various challenges they face. “They have a tremendous psychological block that prevents them from making the link between what they’re going through as adults and the abuse they endured as children. They cannot connect the dots to realize they have a case, and where they do, 90% of them will not come forward out of fear […] of not being believed and being re-victimized.”

Indeed, several decades after the alleged abuse occurred, the inquiry reportedly learned about years of ongoing alleged abuse in Unamen Shipu and Pakua Shipu against Innu women and children living on the province’s Lower North Shore.

During the MMIWG hearings Noëlla Mark, the Class representative, reportedly said that she didn’t talk about the sexual abuse because Joveneau “was considered to be the chief of the village, the head.”

However, that image of a “god-like” figure has since been demolished, says Alain Arsenault, the lawyer representing claimants in the class action lawsuit.

Abuse Settlement Not Yet Reached

Arsenault told CBC News he is not surprised that the number of sexual abuse claimants has grown since the case was first introduced in 2018.

According to the lawyer, if the coronavirus pandemic had not prevented visits to other communities in northern Quebec, there would’ve been many more claimants.

“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” he reportedly told CBC.

At first, the Oblates reportedly said they wanted to settle out of court to spare the victims further trauma; they even reportedly set up a bilingual confidential hotline to offer the victims counseling.

Nevertheless, those initial negotiations never led to a settlement and the sexual abuse hotline was eventually taken down.

Importantly, a major obstacle to sexual abuse class action lawsuits is no longer posing a threat to the progression of the Oblate religious order class action, and that is the issue of prescription.

In June, Bill 55 changed the law in Quebec abolishing statute of limitations and changing the law of prescriptions: major barriers removed, and a huge victory for sexual abuse survivors.

Do you have any comments or questions regarding the Oblates of Mary Immaculate class action lawsuit? Share them with us in the comment section below!

The claimants are represented by Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats s.e.n.c.r.l.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate Class Action Lawsuit is, Noëlla Mark v. Les Oblats de Marie Immaculée, Case No. 500-06-000918-181, Before the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montreal, Canada.

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