Dr. Ewen Cameron, director of the Allan Memorial Institute,  oversaw 'depatterning' and 'psychic driving' experiments trying to erase patients' memories.

Canadians subjected to CIA brainwashing experiments at McGill University's Allan Memorial Institute are taking legal action against the federal government, demanding a public apology and compensation.

The Survivors Allied Against Government Abuse (SAAGA) group met in Montreal, Canada, on May 20. "The government should offer an apology and there should be recognition of the injustice that was done," said Gina Blasbalg, a patient at the institute in 1960.  

Dr. Ewen Cameron, who co-founded the World Psychiatric Association, served as director of the Allan Memorial Institute psychiatric hospital between 1943 and 1964.

Cameron oversaw 'depatterning' and 'psychic driving' experiments which attempted to erase a patient's memories and reprogram them with new thoughts, according to CBC News. 

Cameron tested experimental drugs such as LSD and PCP, medically induced sleep for extended periods, and also oversaw extreme forms of electroshock therapy and sensory deprivation. Many of his patient suffered brain damage as a result. 

Between 1950 and 1965, the government funded Cameron's project to the tune of US$500,000 – US$4 million at today's rates – along with smaller funding from the CIA, using a front organization called the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology.