Lawyer for victims of Edward Horne hopes to settle out of court
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Mar 12/01) - The lawyer representing a group of men who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Edward Horne says the lawsuit against the government is proceeding as planned.
Geoffrey Budden, of the Newfoundland law firm Budden Morris, passed through Iqaluit last week on his way to Kimmirut where about a dozen men - who were students of Horne, a former teacher -- added their names to the statement of claim.
Forty-nine men filed suit in the Nunavut Court of Justice, Jan. 22, against the Government of Nunavut and the Government Northwest Territories. The men say they were sexually assaulted by Horne when he was a teacher in three Nunavut communities - Cape Dorset, Sanikiluaq, and Iqaluit - between 1971-85.
"The courts recognize the significance of the matter and a judge (Justice John Vertes) has been appointed to deal with it as it arises," said Budden.
Budden was unable to discuss the suit any further, but feels good about how it was developing.
"Things are on track. That's all I can say," he said, adding he hopes to settle out of court to prevent the men from further trauma.
Horne is currently serving a five-year sentence for 20 counts of sexual assault he pleaded guilty to last September. An appeal of that sentence will be spoken to in Iqaluit on April 5 at the Nunavut Court of Justice.
