Federal government fined $5,000 in Inuit skin-graft lawsuit
Case filed in 2019 waiting for testimony, documents from defence
Three claimants show the scars left after researchers allegedly performed skin-graft experiments on them in the 1960s and 1970s. (Photo courtesy Steve Cooper)
A Nunavut judge imposed a $5,000 fine on the federal government earlier this year over delays in a lawsuit that alleges Inuit were subjected to medical skin graft experiments.
The claimants are former premier Paul Quassa, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, artist Madeline Ivalu, Lazarie Uttak and Lydia Inooya.
The group alleges they were five of about 30 Inuit subject to biological experiments in Igloolik between 1967 and 1973, including cutting off patches of skin from one person to be grafted onto another. The experiments were done under auspices and financial support from the federal government, the lawsuit, filed in 2019, claims.
“You cannot take bits and pieces of [someone’s] body and weld them onto somebody else,” said Steve Cooper, the lawyer representing the claimants, in an interview.
The group is seeking more than $1 million each in damages and an apology, according to the statement of claim.
The case stalled last year while the group waited for a federally appointed officer to testify and supply documents on behalf of the federal government.
The federal government had a time frame of July 2024 to Nov. 29, 2024, to appoint an officer, and ended up providing that person one day before the deadline, on Nov. 28. Cooper said he was then told the officer would only be available for a short period of time.
Legal examinations, under court order, were to be completed Jan. 8, Cooper said.
When that date passed with no examinations, the judge awarded the claimants $5,000 and set a new deadline of March 31. Now, Cooper said, an officer is appointed and an examination date is scheduled.
“I don’t know why the government is fighting,” he said.
“Every single plaintiff I’ve represented in 35 years of practice wants to settle out of court,” he said, suggesting this is the preferred route for his clients.
The federal government’s stance is that it did not “design, conduct, direct, supervise or otherwise control” the alleged research studies, according to a statement of defence filed Feb. 21, 2020. Instead, the government said, the studies were conducted by the University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Toronto and Montreal’s McGill University.
That pulled the universities into the case as third-parties, which has slowed progress, Cooper said.
Since then, McGill University and University of Toronto have been removed from the case.
“We weren’t interested in suing the universities, at least not based on what we knew,” Cooper said. But, he added, they might have information the claimants need.
“The Government of Canada remains committed to resolving litigation related to past harms suffered by Indigenous people in a respectful, compassionate, and fair manner, whenever possible,” said Anispiragas Piragasanathar, a spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, in an email last month.
The allegations are “deeply troubling,” he said.
However, Piragasanathar said, to date the government has not seen any evidence of its involvement in the experiments or research.
“As this litigation remains before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further,” he said.
If the case were to go to trial, it might not be until late 2026 or early 2027, Cooper estimated, noting there are many variables involved.
Same thing happened in the west of NWT side, U of A Doctor did it, as well wrote a book about doing it.
It still amazes me how indigenous people are treated by so called civilized society, how they can look down at certain people and think it’s ok to do whatever they want.
Today it’s more on policies and continued colonization with our own education here in Nunavut and how our own GN does things to minimize Inuktut, not representing our values and our culture and heritage.
It still amazes me that people don’t realize the GN is run by Inuit. Unhappiness with the GN leads to accusations of continued colonization by Qallunaat. There are 22 members in the Legislative Assembly. How many are not Inuit?
“Yeah but it’s the DMs and the bureaucrats that control everything”. Well, change them. Everything that happens in the GN is under the responsibility and accountability of its Members of the Legislative Assembly. Everything.
Considering at least one of the people named, i do not necessarily believe this and it is just another get rich quick scheme.
The colonizing government experimented on Inuit! It is documented, not made up.
Just because you don’t like one of the victims doesn’t make it not real.
Another attempt to brush the past injustices under the rug.
Despite what you may think of the claimants, the stories about this experience are true. One of the doctors who oversaw the experiment wrote a memoir and wrote about the ethical issues with this experiment. They did not get consent from participants and they did not do proper risk management.
Same thing happened up here in the high Arctic we always wondered what these white spots were we always thought it was a big needle that did that
I have the same scars as well here in South Baffin
Here is the link to the original article from CBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vh85X8VSc.
The article states that the doctor who performed the skin grafts received permission from the community’s elders. The doctor used an interpreter who was not Inuit but could communicate in Inuktitut. This raises concerns about what else the federal government might have done to the Inuit. It is truly sickening to hear about these actions; they are inhumane.