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By Lloyd Mackey
 | | Time magazine's 2006 tribute to 'Reverend Al' Tysick. |
“WE offer a downtown home to Victoria’s
homeless and poor. We don’t judge them and we are not judging Al
either. The matter is before the courts.”
That was the word November 18, from Dennis Anholt,
board chair of Our Place – whose executive director, Al Tysick,
has been named in two civil suits alleging sexual abuse, dating to the
1970s and 1990s.
Anholt stressed that, while the board was “not
judging” Tysick – known informally in Victoria’s homeless
community as Reverend Al – it was taking the matter “very
seriously.” But as of press time, the executive director had not been
asked to step aside from his duties.
The allegations have been a shock to the supporters of
Our Place, given that Tysick was named a national hero by Time magazine in 2006, and
was also given a community recognition award by Royal Roads University the
same year.
But, says Anholt, “It is important not to lose
sight of the leadership and compassion Al has brought to his
work.”
The latest suit was filed in the Ontario Supreme Court
on November 11, by Carleton University professor Collett Tracey.
Her claim alleges that Tysick “used his position
as her pastor, emotional, religious and spiritual advisor, and mentor, to
facilitate his continued sexual exploitation of her,” according to a
November 12 Canwest News Services story.
Tysick was, at the time (in the late 1970s), a minister
at Woodroffe United Church in Ottawa, and Tracey was part of its youth
group.
Previously, on March 2, 2007, a suit alleging sexual
abuse in the early 1990s was filed by Jean Perkins.
Her 14 page claim said the abuse occurred at the time
Tysick was director of Matilda Resource Centre, an eastern Ontario outreach
centre to the poor; Perkins was a volunteer there.
Her 14 page claim said the abuse occurred at the time
Tysick was director of Matilda Resource Centre, an eastern Ontario outreach
centre to the poor; Perkins was a volunteer there.
The Tracey suit is in the order of $2.1 million –
$1.5 million against Tysick, and $600,000 against the United Church of
Canada. Tysick is an ordained United Church minister.
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The Perkins suit is for $1 million. At the time it was
filed, Tysick denied the allegations. None of the claims, with respect to
either suit, have been proven in court.
Anholt said Our Place had just completed a facility on
Pandora Avenue, built with donations and government help – three
years after the successful merger of two Christian-based agencies, Open
Door and Upper Room.
The co-leaders of Our Place, until recently, were
Tysick, who had run Open Door and David Stewart, a Presbyterian minister
who had been responsible for Upper Room.
Anholt had high praise for the way in which the two
leaders worked together, noting Stewart had retired only two weeks ago.
“We serve 700 meals a day, provide a
‘living room’ for the homeless and a place to rest, as well as
shelter from weather. There are computer and shower facilities. And there
are 45 transitional beds, help for people who later move to permanent
housing,” he noted.
The new facility, built on a spot occupied for years by
Victoria Gospel Chapel, opened last year. “It is a beacon of hope. It
serves five days, eight hours a day. There is a lot of talk and hope that
with community and government [support], we can move to seven days a week,
12 hours a day. It will relieve a lot of the pressure downtown.”
December 2008
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Strange world!!