Last week, representatives for the church and provincial government were in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench for a brief hearing, where they accepted vicarious liability the actions of the late Gordon William Dominey, a priest accused of sexually abusing children incarcerated at the Edmonton Youth Development Centre between 1985 and 1990.
Dominey was initially charged in 2016 with historic sex abuse at the since-demolished centre. At its peak, the criminal case against him included 15 complainants and more than 30 criminal charges.
Dominey died of cancer in 2019, before the case could go to trial. The court later certified a class-action lawsuit against the Alberta government and the Anglican Church for men who claimed they had been abused by Dominey.
At the time, lawyer Avnish Nanda said the priest had “full rein” of the youth facility and was subject to little oversight. He said youth incarcerated at the jail were encouraged to seek out Dominey’s services.
After Tuesday’s hearing, in which Alberta and the Anglican Church conceded vicarious liability for “any sexual assaults Gordon William Dominey is proven to have committed against the class members,” Nanda criticized the delays in the case.
“They should have acknowledged this at the outset, when criminal charges were laid by the Alberta government, rather than wasting a decade and putting survivors through so much trauma and grief, to reach this inevitable result,” he said.
A hearing to determine damages has yet to be scheduled, but Nanda said so far, both defendants are refusing to pay anything.
Both the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton and the Alberta government declined to comment on the case, saying it is before the courts.