U.S. argues for immunity in MK-ULTRA mind control case before Quebec Court of Appeal
March 30th, 2023
A proposed class-action lawsuit over infamous brainwashing experiments at a Montreal psychiatric hospital was before Quebec's highest court Thursday, as victims attempted to remove immunity granted to the United States government.
The U.S. government successfully argued in Quebec Superior Court last August that the country couldn't be sued for the project known as MK-ULTRA, allegedly funded by the Canadian government and the CIA.
U.S. lawyers argued that foreign states had absolute immunity from lawsuits in Canada between the 1940s and 1960s, when the program took place.
But survivors (and their families) of the experiments at Montreal's Allan Memorial Institute — which included experimental drugs, rounds of electroshocks and sleep deprivation — appealed that decision.
On Thursday, a lawyer representing the United States government told the Quebec Court of Appeal that the country should be immune from prosecution and that any lawsuit against the U.S. government should be filed in that country.
The court case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed against McGill University — which was affiliated to the psychiatric hospital — Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital and the Canadian and U.S. governments after Montrealers allegedly had their memories erased and were reduced to childlike states.
Class-action lawyer Jeff Orenstein said Thursday he believes Canada's 1982 State Immunity Act, which outlines how foreign states can be sued in the country, is retroactive and can apply in this case.
He said the 1982 act allows foreign states to be sued in cases of bodily injury.
"But this took place in the 1950s and '60s," Orenstein told reporters, regarding the psychological experiments. "And so the exception had not been in effect during that period so (the U.S.) argued that the old law would prevail and the old law was absolute immunity."
"What we're claiming is the law is retrospective, that you can look back even before the act was passed and apply it today," Orenstein said.
He noted there were also exemptions during the 1950s and 1960s for commercial-activity lawsuits, adding that the Montreal experiments involved a funding arrangement between private parties.
"Even under the old law, you would be able to pursue in Canadian courts," Orenstein said.
He also said the case could be heard in Quebec. "We don't think that Canadian citizens who are injured on Canadian soil are required to go to the United States to sue."
The Court of Appeal will render a decision at a later date.
CBC has won a silver award at the 6th Annual Digital Publishing Awards 2021 for their
multi-episode podcast called Brainwashed - an investigative look into the CIA's experiments in #mindcontrol including the #MontrealExperiments. Congratulations to Lisa Ellenwood, CBC as well as the many members of SAAGA who participated.
CBC has won a silver award at the 6th Annual Digital Publishing Awards 2021 for their
multi-episode podcast called Brainwashed - an investigative look into the CIA's experiments in #mindcontrol including the #MontrealExperiments. Congratulations to Lisa Ellenwood, CBC as well as the many members of SAAGA who participated.
CONSUMER LAW GROUP WINS JUDGMENT AGAINST CANADA'S PRIVACY ACT
On January 26, 2021, the Commission d’accès à l’information granted one of our class members’ appeal against the McGill University Health Centre and the administrative judge has ordered that access be given to her late father’s complete medical records. You can download this decision in English here and in French here.
PROTEST ON PARLIAMENT HILL, OCTOBER 6TH, 2019
Marian Read Speech
CONSUMER LAW GROUP
FILES CLASS ACTION SUIT JANUARY 24, 2019
CONSUMER LAW GROUP has launched a class action lawsuit against the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, the Attorney General of Canada and the United States Attorney general on behalf of individuals who underwent depatterning treatment at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, Quebec, between 1948 and 1964 using Donald Ewan Cameron’s methods (the “Montreal Experiments”) and their successors, assigns, family members, and dependents.
The Montreal Experiments included drug-induced sleep/coma, intensive electroconvulsive therapy (“ECT”), psychic driving, sensory deprivation and the administration of various barbiturates, chemical agents and medications to suppress nerve functionality and activation.
“Psychic driving” refers to the “repatterning” procedure whereby patients were subjected to a continuously repeated audio message on a looped tape, often concurrently with muscular paralytic and sedating drugs to subdue them for purposes of exposure to the looped message(s). This included “negative driving” – the use of negative and destructive messages of statements that patients had expressed about themselves (for example: “you are selfish”) followed by “positive driving” – the use of positive messages (for example: “you are lovable”) repeated between 250,000 to 500,000 times.
None of the patients had given informed consent to the Montreal Experiments or were even aware that these experiments were being conducted, instead being under the impression that they were receiving medically sound therapy.
The Montreal Experiments consisted of extreme mind-control brainwashing experimentation on unwitting patients, making a mockery of the doctor-patient relationship.
Simply put, the Montreal Experiments were a form of psychological torture inflicted upon hundreds of unsuspecting persons and which had traumatizing, damaging, and emotionally-crippling effects that lasted for the remainder of their lives and the lives of their families.
To this day, neither the Canadian government, the CIA, McGill, nor the Royal Victoria Hospital have issued formal apologies for their involvement with the Montreal Experiments.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the Montreal Experiments and you wish to obtain more information on potential compensation or to be kept advised of the status of the Allan Memorial Institute Experiments Class Action litigation or any resulting compensation resulting from the Allan Memorial Institute Experiments Class Action Lawsuit, please provide your contact information to our law firm using the below form.
If you know of someone who was an inpatient at the Allan Memorial Institute, or the family of someone who was an inpatient at the Allan Memorial Institute between 1948 and 1964, please contact us!