TORONTO — Former residents of 12 Ontario institutions for people with developmental disabilities have won a $36-million settlement in a class-action lawsuit against the provincial government.
The Superior Court of Justice has approved a tentative settlement reached last fall to compensate people who suffered harm while living at the residential facilities between the 1960s and when the last one closed in 1999.
The former residents have up to four months to ask for a copy of their personal resident files from the Ministry of Community and Social Services, and will be advised by the claims administrator on how to apply for compensation.
Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur says she's glad the province was able to reach a "fair" settlement because the residents "were harmed in a place that was intended to provide them with care."
The provincial government started closing the residential institutions in 1977 and moving adults with developmental disabilities into homes in their communities, with appropriate supports and services.
Social Services Minister Helena Jacek says the province wants people with developmental disabilities to live as independently as possible.
"That's why our government closed the province's last remaining facilities and transitioned to community supports and services," Jacek said in a release.
The institutions involved in the settlement are: Adult Occupational Centre in Edgar, Bluewater Centre in Goderich, D'Arcy Place in Cobourg, Durham Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped in Whitby, L.S. Penrose Centre in Kingston, Midwestern Regional Centre in Palmerston, Muskoka Centre in Gravenhurst, Northwestern Regional Centre in Thunder Bay, Oxford Mental Health Centre and Oxford Regional Centre in Woodstock, Pine Ridge Centre in Aurora, Prince Edward Heights in Picton and St. Lawrence Regional Centre in Brockville.
Two similar class actions were also settled by the province two years ago.
A $35-million settlement in the case of residents at the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia was approved by a court in December 2013. A $32.7-million settlement involving former residents of the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls and the Southwestern Regional Centre near Chatham was approved in February 2014.
The Huronia settlement led Premier Kathleen Wynne to apologize in the Ontario legislature for the suffering the residents experienced there.
