By Chelsea Laskowski

Part 3: Abused trust: ‘Sisters in adversity’ move on after Sask. Rivers School Division lawsuit

Nov 27, 2013 | 5:38 AM

For close to 15 years, three women pushed the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division to apologize for the victimization they suffered as students.

The abuse case revolved around Prince Albert teacher Dennis Foster, who taught for nearly 20 years in the school division, from 1975 to 1993.

The women finally settled their lawsuit outside of court last month, which came with a long-awaited apology from the school division and an undisclosed cash payment.

Over those years, Cathy Borrowman-Bendle, Tammy Gollan and a woman called Sandra, whose actual name cannot be used due to a publication ban, have managed to forge a friendship built on their shared history.

Lawsuit brings the women together

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The three women were abused by their teacher, Dennis Foster, when they were his students.

However, they didn’t really get to know each other until they were involved in the 1994 court case that found Foster guilty of sexual assault. Each of them laid charges of sexual assault against him.

“We really started supporting each other during the rape trial. We were there for everybody who was testifying. We were the survivors,” said Borrowman-Bendle.

In the late 90s, Cathy Borrowman-Bendle was the first to contact lawyer Ron Cherkewich to launch legal action.

He then suggested she speak to other females to join her.

That’s when Gollan and Sandra came on board.

“When we entered this stage of it, we just kept communicating. Sometimes one of us would lead, and sometimes another. Sometimes one of us would not talk to anybody for months on end and the other two would be like ‘what the heck’s her problem,’ you know. But we had shared the same goal,” she said.

She acknowledged that they are very different people, but were there for each other when needed.

When Gollan’s mother died, the other two were there to help her through the rough time.

“We’ve supported each other, we’ve guided each other, we’ve bitched at each other. ‘Sisters in adversity’ might be the easiest way [to describe it],” said Borrowman-Bendle.

“These are two very special people to me. I don’t think I could have made it through this whole thing without them.
There’s not a hope because it is so overwhelming.”

Constantly bringing up a past that the women had each pushed away in their memories was difficult to persevere through.

A difficult past

Each woman dealt with the abuse they suffered at Foster’s hands very differently.

Borrowman-Bendle adopted a ‘good girl’ persona that took her to bible college.

She credits her pursuit of two degrees after high school with grounding her and saving her soul.

After her post-secondary schooling, she ended up back in Prince Albert with her husband, who lives on a farm in the area.

However, in 1994 things took a turn.

“I spent a huge part of my life thinking I got this. I never had a problem with it. I’ve got some issues but I’m OK. After we took him [Foster] to court, I kind of imploded,” she said.

Borrowman-Bendle was unable to work for years, but made it through with the help of counselling.

For Gollan, the only way to deal was to run away and build a new life. She didn’t finish high school before she moved away from Prince Albert.

“The wound never healed, it never closed. I just, I repressed it. I had addictions to cover it up,” she said.

“I struggled some days with getting out of bed. I struggled with depression, anxiety, nightmares, I suffered from chronic insomnia. I’ve just had so many issues, relationship issues.”

Sandra stayed in the Prince Albert area. She took a major blow when one of her daughters came home from school and shared that Foster, who was still a teacher in Riverside Community School in 1993, had acted inappropriately with her as well.

Moving on

With the lawsuit over, Sandra said the past can’t be changed but is glad to be done with it.

Borrowman-Bendle still struggles with resentment. “My entire family life has been tainted by this case,” she said.

They years she was unable to work had an impact on how her children grew up, often having to do without.

“That shouldn’t have happened. We did all the right things. I went to university, my husband is incredibly brilliant. He farmed, he owned his farm outright. We should have had a normal middle class life for our kids. Instead, we had poverty.”

Gollan is walking away from the lawsuit with the most optimism of the three.

“I guess I’m excited for the next chapter. It took so long but yet I don’t feel as though I’m not a whole person anymore. Because I felt so damaged… This is the very first time in my life that I have ever felt hope in going on to my next chapter. I’m going to be 50 soon and I was 12 when this started.”

How does Sask Rivers School Division deal with concerns about predators now?

When a student comes to a staff member about inappropriate behaviour by a teacher, that staff member usually reports it to the supervisor. That supervisor is usually the principal, said the director of education, Robert Bratvold.

There are numerous ways to approach the suspicions that a staff member is taking advantage of students. The approach depends on the seriousness of the allegations, Bratvold said.

The school division has an internal investigation process, but if allegations are serious enough they are passed onto the police.

“It’s sometimes challenging to the find the balance because we certainly have to be thorough in our internal investigation but we also have been cautioned by the police not to compromise their investigation. So generally, what we do is investigate to a certain point and once it seem that it’s appropriate to bring police in, then that’s what we do,” he said.

Internal investigations are performed by the superintendent assigned to the school and possibly someone from the Education Centre, Bratvold explained.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk