TORONTO - An Ontario judge has certified a pair of class-action lawsuits launched by former residents of two provincially run institutions for developmentally disabled people against the provincial government.
The lawyer for the former residents says the lawsuits were approved as class actions in the Ontario Superior Court last Friday.
Kirk Baert represents people who used to live at the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls and the Southwestern Regional Centre near Chatham.
The former residents allege physical and mental abuse as well as the unnecessary administration of medication took place at the institutions between 1963 to when they closed in the late 2000s.
A judge had already approved as a class action a similar $1-billion lawsuit against the provincial government on behalf of former residents of the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia, Ont., in July 2010.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Baert says the judge decided to certify the class actions months before their scheduled hearing dates to advance the proceedings without any more delays.
