Lawsuit against Saskatoon school and church starts

There was a full courtroom at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench on Friday as former students filled seats to see a lawsuit against Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church — formerly Christian Centre Academy and Christian Centre Church — begin.

Caitlin Erickson, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the case is decades in the making.

“A lot of people dreamed, I think, that these people would finally be held accountable,” she said.

The civil action made its way into the courtroom for the first time Friday.

“It was great to actually be in court for our first court date after filing the class action almost a year ago now,” Erickson shared.

She said a “huge” group of students attended to support the lawsuit on Friday.

“It’s great to see things actually finally playing out,” she said.

Calling it a long morning in court, Erickson said procedural arguments were made in order to establish when defences need to be submitted by those being sued.

Erickson said after the defendants were served last year, they had a certain number of days, depending on where they lived and other circumstances, to submit a statement of defence. The judge reserved his decision on that matter for an unknown future date.

“Not one of them has put in a statement of defence for the allegations,” Erickson stated, adding that two defendants have defaulted because they haven’t obtained counsel or responded to the suit.
Erickson called the morning in court interesting and applauded her legal representation.

“It was really great to see our legal team in action,” she said. “They were really great and very well-prepared compared to others in the courtroom.”

Grant Scharfstein of Scharfstein LLP is representing Erickson and her co-defendant as lead plaintiffs against the school, church and other main defendants named in the lawsuit.

Erickson said she felt it was positive, too, for other students who have joined the class action suit to see their representation in action on Friday.

“It’s very healing and cathartic for all the former students to have so much public support,” Erickson shared.