People who lived at Ontario Training Schools seek closure 8 years after start of class action alleging abuse

More than 50 years and 3,500 kilometres separate Paul Grimston from the Ontario government-operated detention centre where he was forced to live as a child. But the 69-year-old says the memories of the beatings and abuse he suffered there are still "fresh every day."

“The problem is that it never leaves you,” he said in an interview with CBC from the motorhome where he lives on Vancouver Island. “I’ve seen and suffered a lot of horrific things.”

In December 2017, Grimston and others who went to the training schools launched a class-action lawsuit against the province. The court certified it to proceed in December 2018.

Seeking an apology and a settlement, they’re still waiting for closure.

Lawsuit claims ‘rampant’ abuse

"The training schools contained a toxic environment in which degr