HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says the terms of reference for a public inquiry into alleged abuse at the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children should be finished this month.
People who used to live in the Halifax-area orphanage allege that they were subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse over several decades.
Chad Lucas, a spokesman for the province, says a group tasked with designing the terms of reference have been meeting with interested parties and the terms should be finalized in a few weeks.
Lucas wouldn’t reveal any details about the terms of reference and he couldn’t say when the inquiry process would begin.
Tony Smith, a former resident of the home who is part of the group designing the terms of reference, says the inquiry will give former residents the chance to tell their stories.
Premier Stephen McNeil apologized in October for the abuse, acknowledging that the pleas of former residents for help went unanswered in what he described as a chapter in the province’s history of systemic racism.
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