The leader of a new Oblate Safeguarding Commission has begun investigating the handling of clergy abuse allegations in Nunavut.
APTN News: A retired judge was in Nunavut this week to hear more about historical allegations of child abuse against an Oblate Catholic priest.
André Denis, formerly of the Superior Court of Quebec, was hired by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to review their handling of accusations against Joannes Rivoire. Denis has until next summer to complete his report as leader of the Oblate Safeguarding Commission.
It’s an assignment an Oblate spokesperson says is independent of the Order.
“While we have supported the process by providing him with guidelines and trying to promote awareness of the Commission, I am unable to speak in detail to his ongoing work,” said Fr. Ken Thorson in an email to APTN News.
Read more: Fugitive priest Joannes Rivoire says Nunavut RCMP have yet to speak to him
Tanya Tungilik, who met with Denis in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, earlier this week, said she wasn’t clear on what Denis was trying to achieve. “He asked a lot of questions,” Tungilik said in a telephone interview Thursday. But I don’t think it’s going to get anything actionable done.”
The case of the French missionary priest has dragged on for decades.
It began in the 1980s when four Inuit alleged to the Nunavut RCMP they were sexually abused by Rivoire as children in three remote communities between 1963 and 1993.
Tungilik’s late father, Marius Tungilik, was one of the alleged victims.
However, Rivoire had returned to France by the time the RCMP charged him with five counts of indecently assaulting four Inuit children. Then in 2017, the charges were stayed by Canada, citing lack of cooperation from France.
Rivoire, who is now in his 90s and lives in a nursing home in Lyon, denies the allegations.
Including the most recent charge RCMP laid in 2021 after an Inuk woman came forward with a new allegation.
Read more: Canada missed chance to have priest charged in France
Still, Rivoire told APTN in an exclusive interview in June 2022 that he would not return to Canada.
Undeterred, a delegation of Inuit – that included Tanya – travelled to France a few months later to seek Rivoire’s extradition. Again, France refused.
Tanya said Denis told her he is interviewing numerous people and has obtained church records relating to Rivoire’s career as a missionary in the Arctic. This was of interest to her as she is still trying to obtain a copy of her dad’s original complaint to the RCMP.
“I really want to see my dad’s statement. But they [RCMP] won’t give it to me,” she said despite Access to Information requests and the help of an advocacy organization.
Denis declined to comment on his assignment when reached by APTN. “Out of respect for the process, I have committed that I will only take part in media interviews after the report is complete,” he said.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., an Inuit advocacy and land claim association that led the delegation to France in 2022, did not respond to a request for comment on the commission prior to publication.
It has urged more complainants to come forward because there is no statute of limitations on sex crimes in Canada.