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NUNAVUT - A lawyer has launched four new lawsuits on behalf of more than 50 Nunavut residents who were molested by employees of the federal and territorial governments decades ago.

Geoffrey Budden, well known for his work on the successful Ed Horne settlement, is arguing the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories are liable in part for the abuse inflicted on this group of victims.

"In all cases our clients were children living and going to school in small, isolated Inuit communities. Outside men would come and teach in these schools and unfortunately some of these men were pedophiles," he said. "Our belief is that the government should have properly vetted these men before hiring them and properly supervised them while on the job."

The male and female complainants, who cannot be named, were abused over different periods between the 1960s and 1980s by teachers or a social worker.

A lawsuit has been filed against the federal government alone on behalf of five people molested by teacher Maurice Cloughley in Grise Fiord 1967 to 1969. A second suit involving Cloughley has been filed against both the territorial and federal government, on behalf of 31 former residents of Clyde River and Resolute abused between 1973 and 1981.

Another has been filed against the federal government alone on behalf of the victims of teacher James McDiarmid, who molested seven people between 1967 and 1970 in Pond Inlet.

And the fourth application has been filed against both the territorial and federal governments on behalf of the victims of Kevin Clarke Amyot, a social worker who molested 11 people in Sanikiluaq between 1984 and 1986.

All victims were children or adolescents at the time the offences occurred.

"Clearly there was a systemic problem during that period," Budden said. "For a fairly small place, there seemed to be a lot of child molesters in positions of authority in those years."

Before working as a social worker in Sanikiluaq in the mid-1980s, Amyot was convicted of gross indecency in Ottawa in 1966 and indecent assault on a male in Edmonton in 1972. Both of these resulted in suspended sentences, according to the July 30, 1987 court ruling that stemmed from his eventual conviction.

Budden said he believes both the earlier convictions involved children. "If (the government) knew about it, it's outrageous they would have hired him. And if they didn't, they should have," he said.

Cloughley was hired to teach in eight Northern communities during his career. He was convicted in the mid-90s on nine offences relating to Inuit and Dene children, served time in jail and was released.

McDiarmid first taught in Iqaluit before moving to Pond Inlet. His offences were discovered soon after he moved to Pond Inlet. He was flown out and "dealt with," by the government, according to Budden.

The applications for all four suits began in August with a John Doe application to seal the victims' names. The statements of claim were filed in late September. Counsel for the federal and territorial governments now have until Oct. 25 to respond.

Budden said there was no strategic significance to the fact that all four were filed at the same time.

Many of the victims contacted him in the years following the successful first Ed Horne suit, which resulted in over $20 million in compensation being paid out to more than 80 men by the governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Budden said he is confident his clients will be successful in this case as well. "The legal principles are similar to the first Horne case and others where the complainants have succeeded," he said.

However, Budden said he remains disappointed the Government of Nunavut has itself refused to participate in any of the litigation involving its residents. He points to a previous arrangement between the governments to allow the Northwest Territories to take the lead on matters which took place before Nunavut's creation.

"It's disappointing how the Nunavut government has taken no position on any of these matters. They've allowed the Government of Northwest Territories to call all the shots," Budden said. "I can't imagine any other jurisdiction of Canada allowing another to control matters pertaining to its residents which they sit on their hands. It's election time right now and that's something people should be talking about."