MONTREAL – Quebec’s Court of Appeal says the United States government cannot be sued in Canada for its alleged role in infamous brainwashing experiments at a Montreal psychiatric hospital.
The proposed class-action lawsuit is about MK-ULTRA — allegedly funded by the Canadian government and the CIA between the 1940s and 1960s at Montreal’s Allan Memorial Institute, which was affiliated with McGill University.
In a 3-0 decision rendered Monday, the province’s highest court upheld a lower court decision that said a 1982 Canadian law governing how foreign states can be sued in the country cannot be used retroactively.
The court case stems from a January 2019 class-action lawsuit filed against McGill University, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Canadian and U.S. governments after Montrealers allegedly had their memories erased and were reduced to childlike states.
The lawsuit — which has not been authorized by a judge — alleges that the experiments by Dr. Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute between 1948 and 1964 were part of the CIA’s MK-ULTRA program of covert mind-control.
Lawyer Jeffrey Orenstein, who represents the plaintiffs, said in an email he is reviewing all legal options, including an application for leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2023.
