Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Mar 04/02) - The governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have paid nearly $1 million to victims of sex offender Edward Horne.

Nunavut's finance minister told the legislative assembly Tuesday that the government had spent $443,000 for litigation.

Kelvin Ng was responding to questions from MLAs James Arvaluk and Rebekah Uqi Williams during committee hearings.

He called it an advance payment in a gesture of good will and its expected that there will be some ... additional liability.

Geoffrey Budden, a lawyer representing 64 plaintiffs, declined comment, saying he wanted to speak with government lawyers first.

Horne was employed as a teacher by the GNWT between 1971 and 1985. He is serving a five-year jail term after pleading guilty to 20 counts of sexual assault during his tenure as a teacher in Apex, Cape Dorset, and Sanikiluaq.

A civil suit against the two governments was filed last January by 64 former pupils, claiming that the former GNWT did not protect them from Horne.According to Earl Johnson, a spokesperson for the NWT Department of Justice, the payment has already gone out. There is a component of (the payout) to cover experts fees, so it would be difficult to extrapolate, how much each victim will receive.

Johnson added the governments and plaintiffs are trying to reach a negotiated settlement.