Woman subjected to CIA experiments to get her day in court

MONTREAL (CP) - A federal court judge will review the case of a Montreal woman unwittingly subjected to CIA brainwashing experiments, refusing a federal government application to dismiss her lawsuit.

Janine Huard is seeking approval from the court for a class action lawsuit on behalf of potentially hundreds of patients who were subjected to the Cold War-era experiments funded jointly by the U.S. spy agency and the Canadian government. "First off, I note that the plaintiff showed courage and determination in tackling the United States government and the CIA," Judge Luc Martineau wrote in a judgement released this week.

Huard, 79, was a young mother of four in 1950 when she sought treatment for weight loss and mild depression from Dr. Ewen Cameron at McGill's renowned Allan Memorial Institute.

On and off over the next 15 years, Huard was subjected to treatments that included massive electroshock therapy, experimental pills and repetitive recorded messages she was forced to listen to for days on end. -{snip}- (emphasis mine)

Cameron pioneered techniques he believed could erase harmful memories and rebuild psyches without psychiatric defect.

The idea intrigued the CIA, which recruited him to experiment with mind control techniques beginning in 1950.