HALIFAX - Former residents of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children who allege they were abused at the Halifax orphanage for years are set to receive an apology today from Premier Stephen McNeil.
People who used to live in the home allege that they were subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse over several decades.
Class-action lawsuits were launched by the former residents against the home and the provincial government, which ended in settlements totalling $34 million.
The home came to a $5-million settlement with the plaintiffs in July 2013 and the Nova Scotia Supreme Court approved a $29-million award from the province a year later.
McNeil will offer the apology in the legislature, where some of the former residents are expected to attend.
He says he is humbled for the opportunity to offer the apology on behalf of Nova Scotians.
"There are issues that stay with you, that you do not shake," McNeil said hours before he was scheduled to give the apology. "This is one of those issues that has stayed with me from the very beginning."
The lawyer who represents the former residents has said nearly 250 people who lived at the home from 1921 until 1989 are eligible for the class-action settlement payouts.
That agreement is before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, where a judge has asked the law firm who worked on the case for the plaintiffs to provide a legal precedent to support their proposal to have people who joined the lawsuit in later years absorb some of the legal costs of the earlier claimants.
The lawyers have asked to be paid $6.6 million in legal fees, a proposal also subject to court approval. A ruling is expected next Thursday.
The Liberal government has also promised to hold a public inquiry into the alleged abuse. McNeil has said the terms of reference will be set out to give former residents an opportunity to publicly share their stories.
The home is now a short-term residential facility for children of all races.
