Historic lawsuit filed with B.C. Supreme Court alleging abuse at Vernon, B.C. school
Global News
After 60 years, Syilx Okanagan woman Laurie Wilson is taking her story of alleged abuse to B.C.'s highest court.
Warning: This story contains content that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
After 60 years, Syilx Okanagan woman Laurie Wilson is taking her story of alleged abuse to B.C.’s highest court.
From 1963 to 1970 Wilson attended St James Parish School in Vernon, B.C., which accepted both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. She says the Catholic school dehumanized Indigenous children while stripping them of their culture.
“I never thought I was anything but a beautiful little girl, very loved, I never thought there was anything wrong with me. But in the first week I knew what was wrong with me,” said Wilson.
“It was blatantly said that we didn’t have the same brains as the other kids, that we were heathens, we didn’t have souls.”
The lawsuit filed Friday at the BC Supreme Court against the federal government and the Kamloops Diocese details the alleged abuse Wilson suffered.
“Telling the plaintiff her skin was black because she never washed and that she was ‘dirty,'” reads the lawsuit.
“Permitting the children to routinely taunt Indigenous children, including the plaintiff, with racial slurs.”
