News. Scouts Canada sexual abuse reporting questioned Report suggests organization’s failures to alert authorities By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer n independent review released last week by auditing firm KPMG suggests that Scouts Canada has mishandled the reporting of sexual abuse allegations over the last 64 years, failing to report 65 allegations of sexual misconduct to the authorities. The review came at the request of the Scouts Canada organization as a follow up to a CBC investigation last fall for the fifth estate that was run in conjunction with the Los Angeles commissioner of Scouts Canada, Janet Yale, said in a statement to the fifth estate in October of last year, “To eliminate any confusion or misunderstanding on your part, Scouts Canada wishes to be categorical: both assertions [that Scouts Canada “retains ‘secret lists’ or ‘secret files’ that detail rumours, reports or suspicions with respect to misconduct on the part of current or past volunteer leaders,” and that “the contents of these alleged files have been—or are being—withheld from police and other authorities” ] are completely false. As we have informed the fifth estate repeatedly “While the KPMG investigation found that Scouts Canada did not actively attempt to hide any sexual abuse cases, there were ‘disorganized, incomplete and inconsistent’ records...” Times report on Scouts Canada and the Boy Scouts of America. The fifth estate investigation revealed that Scouts Canada had tried to cover up more than a dozen child sex-abuse cases and avoided legal authorities by settling out-of-court with the victims. The program also found evidence of a “confidential list” kept by the organizations that contained suspected or known offenders. Former CEO and executive and explicitly, unlike Boy Scouts of America, Scouts Canada has no history of keeping so-called ‘pink files’, ‘pink folders’, ‘secret lists’ or secret files’. To be clear, we keep no files, folders, lists or records of any kind that detail suspected instances of misbehaviour, policy violations or abuse on the part of volunteer leaders.” Yale resigned from Scouts Canada in November of 2011 due to “philosophical differences” with the CCl organization. While the KPMG investigation found that Scouts Canada did not actively attempt to hide any sexual abuse cases, there were “disorganized, incomplete and inconsistent” records and that “[it] is clear from the state of the files that Scouts was not managing these matters centrally or learning corporately from past mistakes.” KPMG also found that there were some instances where volunteers guilty of sexual misconduct had been able to simply resign, instead of facing suspension or termination. “T guess the most troubling part of the report is there are times where our processes and procedures and our policies and our people failed,” said Steve Kent, chief commissioner of Scouts Canada. “We failed to follow our own policies and procedures. “T think one of the most positive findings is that the report didn’t reveal any systemic attempt to cover up or hide any information relating to incidents that occurred in the past.” The report also found that the system was far better after Scouts Canada created national protocols and centralized its information. Kent has stated that, “Scouts Canada is a safer organization than ever before in our history.” Dougl June 21 an By Dylan Hackett, News Editor oth Douglas College B campuses marked Canada’s 17 National Aboriginal Day with ceremony, dance performed by the Git Hayetsk group, bannock (a fried flatbread) cooking workshops, and a variety of booths set up to inform students and attendees of the realities faced in the lives of aboriginal peoples. “Douglas College celebrates the fact that we live in a historic place where First Nations people have gathered for centuries,” said Blaine Jensen, Vice President of Educational Services. “The New Westminster Campus is on the traditional territory of the Qayqayt Nation: Qayqayt means resting place. The David Lam Campus is on the lands of the Kwikwetlem First Nation. The celebrations that 4 Douglas College hosted on June 21 and 22 honour the First Nations and help us all learn to appreciate the tradition and culture of the first peoples of our region.” “We had a variety of presentations spanning from aboriginal education in a post- secondary context to local spirituality in regards to plant life and how different nations in the BC area use different plants and trees,” said Madison Paradis-Woodman, DSU Aboriginal Liaison and student assistant to the Aboriginal Day event. “I also did the presentation on aboriginal issues and themes in post-secondary education.” Aboriginal post-secondary students are often purported to have their education paid for by the government, a myth that Paradis- Woodman was set to address in full. “The whole notion that aboriginal people in Canada get free education is an umbrella of myths. That's not the case,” explained Paradis-Woodman. “What happens is that money is distributed through what the government calls the Post-Secondary Student Support Program, or PSSSP for short. [The money] is funnelled out to all the different bands in Canada and that is used for educational purposes. For instance, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s used for post- secondary education. It could be used for trades, high schools. The funding is given to your band and this proposes a problem for Métis and non-status aboriginal students. Automatically, this poses a problem. Those two demographics are completely exempt from this program.” According to the Canadian as celebrates National Aboriginal Day 22 marked with song, dance, and struggles Federation of Students, the two per cent annual increase cap imposed during the Chretien years has been a major barrier for the funding of PSSSP due to annual inflation being beyond two per cent. The CCF believes that this violates the constitutional right for aboriginal peoples to have access to education at all levels. “Tn a 2004 report of the Auditor General, lack of federal funding was cited as the cause of preventing approximately 9,500 First Nations people from pursuing a post-secondary education in 2000. Between 2001 and 2006, the Assembly of First Nations estimates that 10,588 status First Nations students were denied funding from the PSSSP, and an additional 2,858 more were denied in 2007-2008 alone,” stated the CFS website.