A man who spent four years in appalling conditions at the former Whitbourne Boys Home has taken his quest for justice and compensation to Confederation Building and picked up significant backing along the way.

Jack Whalen, now 63, spent four years in detention from 1973-77 often enduring physical and mental abuse. He once spent 87 days in isolation with no natural lighting. He was allowed out only to use the bathroom.

He built a replica—about 6 1/2′ in length and 5 1/2′ in width—attached to his pickup and parked in front of Confederation Building to bring attention to his plight.

He ran away 24 times in four years, and one year spent the entire summer locked away.

He says one of the guards asked him how white he was, a remark aimed at his lack of exposure to the sun, and offered to take him outside but with a rope around his neck. Whalen says that’s when he lost it and told the guard that he was not a dog and wouldn’t do it.

He’s prevented from taking government to court because of the Statute of Limitations, something which lawyer Lynn Moore is trying to change. She will be in court tomorrow arguing that her case should be amended to include further charter violations.