Teens allegedly harassed, abused during camping trip

WINNIPEG — RCMP are investigating allegations that teenagers from a southern Manitoba school were spanked, slapped, “dry-humped” and threatened by another group of students while on a camping trip near Norway House First Nation.

The allegations stem from a multi-day “truth and reconciliation” student exchange trip to the northern Manitoba community, located roughly 200 kilometres south of Thompson, last fall.

Students from the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre, a nursery-to-Grade 12 school in Norway House, allegedly targeted boys from Elm Creek School in an act of intimidation while the teens were staying overnight in tents outside the community, said a parent whose child was on the trip.

A video of the alleged abuse has since circulated through the school community, the parent said, speaking anonymously to protect their child’s identity.

“I’ve seen the video myself, with my own two eyes, and it’s disgusting, it’s inappropriate and it’s not OK,” they said. “The threats, the inappropriate spanking and dry-humping … just completely inappropriate behaviour.”

Elm Creek is located about 75 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. The school is in the Prairie Rose School Division.

The parent said the children on the trip ranged in age from 14 to 17. They do not know how many students from Elm Creek were affected, or how many students from Norway House participated in the incident.

“My understanding is they targeted basically one (student) at a time, kind of ganged up on one at a time,” they said. “One of the boys was so scared he slept in the girls’ tent the whole (camping trip).”

The incident was reported to police on Feb. 14, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Julie Courchaine confirmed Thursday, adding no charges have been laid.

Records from Prairie Rose School Division trustee board meetings show Elm Creek students were scheduled to visit Norway House from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2.

Planning for the outing began as early as January 2022, when teaching staff from Elm Creek School presented a trip proposal to the division’s board of trustees.

By September 2023, the trip had been approved by both school divisions, with travel dates set to coincide with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Sept. 30), records show.

Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre is part of the Frontier School Division. A note from the division’s board of trustees meeting that month indicates the trip was intended to focus on “land-based learning and truth and reconciliation.”

“When my (child) returned home, (they) were traumatized by the situation,” the parent said.

“This had promise of being a spectacular trip and, unfortunately, things happened.”

The parent said they do not believe the students alerted any adults about the alleged abuse until they returned to Elm Creek.

At least three adult chaperones from Elm Creek were present on the trip, they said.

“The kids were scared to say anything up there in case it made things worse … That was a poor choice on their part, but I kind of get it at the same time; I mean, they were scared.”

The parent, who had already heard about the incident from their child, received a phone call from Elm Creek School staff saying “concerns had been raised” about a week after the trip.

The parent became aware of the RCMP investigation in March. They and their child have since been interviewed by police.

After returning from Norway House, staff from Elm Creek School presented information about the trip to PRSD trustees during an Oct. 10 meeting, records show.

A recording of the meeting is not publicly available.

“The school division and our board is aware of a potential situation and the school division is doing everything necessary to ensure that the situation is handled appropriately. At this time, we are unable to speak to the situation as it is not fully resolved and involved minors,” PRSD assistant superintendent Chris Gamble told the Winnipeg Free Press.

“I’m not really at liberty to say any more than I already did, at this time.”

Reg Klassen, Frontier’s superintendent, offered a similar statement regarding the incident.

“That’s under investigation with the RCMP, and so there’s no comment. I can’t make any comment. I’d love to clear the air, but I can’t,” Klassen said.

Brian O’Leary, the province’s deputy minister of education, and Michelle Dubik, deputy minister of families, sent a joint letter to the PRSD and Frontier trustee boards in January, outlining the mandatory reporting of child-protection and child-abuse protocol, records show.

Parents were initially told there would be four tents available to house the students while they were staying outside of Norway House, but only three were available when they arrived.

The girls were given their own tent, and the boys were supposed to be divided by school, but there were boys from both schools in the two tents, the parent said.

Overnight security was supposed to be present on the trip to provide additional supervision and protection from animals in the Northern wilderness, but security staff never showed up, the parent added.

“There are a lot of things that have gone on here that I am not happy about … When the plan changes, I think the parents should be notified,” they said.

“For me, the bigger issue was how the whole incident was handled — or not handled — (the school divisions) tried to sweep it under the rug.”

» Winnipeg Free Press