Indigenous communities across Canada are in the early stages of pursuing a potential class action lawsuit against Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) over substandard and harmful dental work allegedly performed by a “travelling dentist” who worked for the former Indian Affairs Canada between the 1960s and 1980s. The lawsuit is expected to represent around 10,000 Indigenous members throughout the province and will allege that the dental work was performed on youth without consent, causing long-term physical and emotional harm.
The Band Members of the Advocacy Alliance Association of Canada (BMAAAC) is facilitating the lawsuit. According to the group’s president and founder, Rob Louie, stories from elderly Indigenous people who were children at the time of the dental work are heartbreaking. Many people had teeth removed without anesthesia and have since struggled with self-esteem issues and poor dental health. Louie said that some people have avoided going to the dentist altogether due to their traumatic experiences as children.
The Indigenous Services Canada responded to an April 4 request for a statement from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) but did not receive a response until one week later, April 11. A statement from the government agency read, “We cannot comment about potential or proposed legal actions which have not been filed.” However, ISC has commissioned a project with the Saskatchewan-based organization, the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada (IDAC), to examine the impact of dentistry work on residential school survivors and collect their testimonies.
Founder of IDAC, Dr. Sheri McKinstry, has spoken out about the absolute horrors experienced by Indigenous people during the dental work performed under the former Indian Affairs Canada. McKinstry said she herself had traumatic experiences with ISC dentists when she was a child, which she only recognized as abuse after becoming a dentist. She now hopes to create “ceremony-friendly” dentistry that will ease the traumas of the past for Indigenous clients.
The Calgary-based law firm DD West will be taking the case, with hopes of filing the suit this fall. While Louie said that the Inuit population and those in the Metis community may not be eligible to join the suit against ISC, he plans to travel across the province to meet with First Nations interested in joining the class action. Interested parties can also contact BMAAAC directly at BMAAAC.org.