[Anglican Journal] The Anglican Church of Canada is facing a large number of claims for damages arising out of alleged abuse at residential schools. In a recent judgement, the Church was ordered to pay 60% of agreed damages to one victim, with the federal government responsible for the remaining 40%. This was despite the fact that the school concerned, in Lytton, British Columbia, was owned by the state and the abuse was perpetrated by a civil servant.

"We had expected that more responsibility would be assigned to the government since it owned the school, funded its operation and was primarily responsible for appointing the principal and staff," said Archdeacon Jim Boyles of the Diocese of Cariboo.

There are currently an estimated 280 cases involving nearly 500 plaintiffs being brought against the Church of Canada. The financial consequences of damages awarded in these cases could be disastrous. While the Diocese of Cariboo is confident of paying the damages awarded against it so far, this could wipe out its reserves, and there are still several cases outstanding.

"The people of Cariboo are enormously faithful to God and to their church," said Archbishop David Crawley, "and they will see that [the life of the church] carries on. I think that they're responding quite bravely."

The legal proceedings are complicated by concerns over how responsibility for damages is divided between government and church, and even between different church authorities. The court did not distinguish between the Diocese of Cariboo and General Synod. "Failing to distinguish between them is like failing to distinguish between the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia, on the grounds that it's 'all the government'", said Archdeacon Boyles.

While some church financial resources such as pension funds and money in trust for specific projects are protected, other assets such as the national office building in Toronto might have to be sold to pay any claims. Archdeacon Boyle said these might amount to CA$10 million, but that the church wasn't planning for a worst case scenario.

"We would like the federal Government to acknowledge that the continued viability of the Anglican Church is an important goal for public policy," the Archdeacon said. "We believe the way to accomplish this goal is to limit the amount the church would contribute to settlements."

The Church of Canada is also exploring alternative dispute resolution (ADR) along with other churches, the federal government and native groups. The aim of ADR is not necessarily to save money but to avoid the adversarial nature of court proceedings. People who were sexually or physically abused would work with the church and government to develop a compassionate process that recognised their needs and ensured that claims were validated and damages assessed properly. General Synod has authorised involvement in two ADR projects so far.