Labrador brothers wait for word on residential school settlement

Two brothers who say they were abused at an orphanage in St. Anthony in the 1960's are waiting to hear if the federal government will offer an apology and compensation before a class action lawsuit resumes Monday.

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Richard Preston, an Inuk from Happy Valley-Goose Bay who now lives in New Brunswick, said he was physically and sexually abused as a child at facilities run by the International Grenfell Association (IGA).

"It was cruel and unusual punishment and somebody has to pay," he said. "After this lawsuit is over, I will find closure."

Preston was three years old when he and his older brothers, Don and Bob, were taken to St. Anthony.

"It was very frightening there. There was a lot of violence there," he said.

"There was sexual, physical and mental abuse. It was an upbringing with absolutely no love at all." 

The Preston brothers are among nearly 1,200 people suing the federal government for compensation and an apology for what happened at facilities in this province run by the IGA and by the Moravian Church.

The case was bogged down for nearly a decade during the Stephen Harper government, which did not include the Newfoundland and Labrador plaintiffs in a 2007 settlement, and an apology the following year.

Yet, lawyers agreed earlier this month to work with a negotiator try to reach an out-of-court settlement and were given a deadline of Feb. 29. 

'I still to this day feel shame'

Richard Preston said he was in St. Anthony until he was 12, and during that time he alleges he was fondled by a member of the orphanage staff and an older boy who lived near the institution. 

Seeing his brothers go through the same thing was even worse he said, but the boys never talked about what happened. 

"I never let my mother know," he said. "I still to this day feel shame."

It was an upbringing with absolutely no love at all.- Richard Preston

Preston's brother Don was five when he was brought to the orphanage.

"We thought we were going for a drive," he said.

Instead, the brothers found themselves in the care of an orphanage matron who Preston described as a "prison guard."

"She walked around with a strap in her hand which was about two feet long with a six inch handle on it," he said.

"You learned to stay away from her."

Holding back tears, he said two boys were once beaten for running away.

"They beat those two boys so bad they couldn't walk. They couldn't even stand up."

Richard Preston said whippings were common and children were punished as a group when one of them was accused of fighting or swearing.

"I can't carry a relationship with anybody because of my low self-esteem," he told Here and Now Thursday.

Repeating the cycle

Don Preston said he repeated the cycle of abuse. As an adult, he was convicted of luring a minor.

"I'm not proud of it and I'm not going to deny it either," he said from his home in Fredericton.

"You were so used to having it done to you when you were younger that you thought that it was a regular normal thing."

Now, he's hoping an end to the legal battle will bring some relief.

"When I talk about this stuff, I feel like I'm putting my head in a vise," he said.

"I'm not looking for pity. I'm not looking for a pat on the back. I just want the world to know what happened to us boys."