Orphans impatient

>> Activist argues that the Duplessis Orphans are being sold short

By KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

Rod Vienneau, an activist who has spent many hours helping the cause of people illegally interned by the Catholic Church in psychiatric wards in the '40s and '50s, has a few questions for the man empowered to seek a settlement.

Vienneau--whose wife Clarina Duguay is among the estimated 1,000-1,500 surviving so-called Duplessis Orphans--has challenged the strategy employed by Bruno Roy, a famous writer who was also institutionalized in his youth and now heads the committee seeking retribution from the provincial government.

Prior to the June 1999 provincial election, Roy--an avowed Separatist--appeared to have persuaded Premier Bouchard to promise a post-election settlement for the victims. The PQ was re-elected, and a year later the Orphans presented 23,000 signatures endorsing their cause to Premier Bouchard. Finance Minister Bernard Landry strongly hinted that a settlement would be offered. But Bouchard attempted to end the matter with a mere apology in the National Assembly.

The dashed hopes have led some to question the non-combative route taken by Roy. For example, Vienneau complains of Roy's reluctance to endorse the demand for $1.4-billion in compensation, a sum that would be roughly in line with the $150,000-500,000 given to Mount Cashel sexual abuse victims and natives sterilized in Northern Alberta.

Vienneau also complains that Roy has reverted to legal jargon and too frequently bars dissonant voices from committee meetings. Vienneau says he has also unsuccessfully requested that Roy donate some of the profits of the literature and film he's done on the subject to the group's cause.

"We could be doing so much more," says Vienneau. "For example, why wasn't there a group of Duplessis Orphans at the Women's March and the March Against Poverty? We should also be picketing everywhere that Bouchard goes.

"If you're the coach of the Montreal Canadiens, and you keep losing every game, eventually you're going to get fired," declares Vienneau, who says his attempts to question Roy have been fruitless.

Although Roy could not be reached for comment, Duplessis Orphans Committee media rep Carlo Torini says a more apt metaphor for the struggle would be: "Us--a Pee Wee team--playing against NHL teams [who are] the Roman Catholic Church, the College of Physicians and the Quebec government."

Torini says that while he understands Vienneau's frustrations, there has been some action. "There is much being done behind the scenes that can't necessarily come out in public yet." Torini hints at upcoming announcements that include a statement of support from the Quebec Women's Federation, the three major trade unions and certain Catholic religious orders.

Former PQ cabinet minister Denis Lazure, who was one of the first to uncover the shocking misdeeds in the 1960s, says that an effort is being made to force the Public Curator to go through the old records. "The victims will have to show they were illegally detained in a hospital and falsely diagnosed--these are provable things," says Lazure. "I think Premier Bouchard has shown a lack of sensitivity. Firstly he exaggerated the amount of the demand and, second, he thought settling would directly lay blame on the nuns." Lazure says he's "absolutely sure" that almost all the Duplessis Orphans would be happy with $40,000 each.

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