Former student Chelsea Rooney collected complaints against the noted novelist. Her apology is the latest turn in a saga that has torn apart Canada’s literary community and garnered international attention.

The former student who launched and sustained public allegations of rape and sexual assault against UBC professor and novelist Steven Galloway has issued an extensive and “unreserved” apology.

Chelsea Rooney, who obtained a master’s degree in creative writing from UBC, signed the two-page apology a week before the beginning of the Oct. 5 trial at which Galloway’s remaining accusers are scheduled to defend themselves against the noted author’s accusation that they defamed him.

Rooney’s apology, plus those of several other defendants, represent the latest turn in a decade-long saga that has torn apart Canada’s literary community and garnered international attention. Last month, the former student who alleged Galloway had raped her, known as “A.B.”, said she no longer intends to testify.

Rooney was the most high-profile public opponent of the scores of Canadian literary figures who in 2016 signed a public statement titled UBC Accountable, including Margaret Atwood, Carmen Aguirre and John Vaillant. They called on the university to follow due process while investigating complaints.

After the signatories of UBC Accountable were excoriated and accused of doubting survivors and reinforcing “rape culture,” several famous Canadian authors withdrew their names, including Miriam Toews, Wayne Johnston and Madeleine Thien.

One signatory who has closely followed Galloway’s case, former Vancouver poet laureate Brad Cran, said the controversy continues to divide Canadian authors, with some signatories saying they have been ostracized by former friends, writers’ festivals, granting agencies and publishers.

In the midst of these wider shock waves, Rooney now says she “deeply apologizes” for the harm she has for years caused Galloway, his family and others.

“I wrongfully accused Mr. Galloway of rape and sexual assault, with no knowledge of whether it was true. I recognize that my conduct was reckless and deeply unfair to Mr. Galloway. I regret it and retract my statements. I unreservedly apologize to Mr. Galloway, his family and others for the harm caused by my statements and conduct,” says the short version of Rooney’s apology, which is scheduled to run in an ad in Saturday’s National Post.

Rooney also says she regrets the role she played when UBC — as well as writing professors Keith Maillard and Annabel Lyon — asked her to build a case against Galloway by independently collecting complaints about him from up to 20 former students and others.

Galloway, the author of the bestselling novels The Cellist Of Sarajevo and The Confabulist, had been a mentor to Rooney. Although Galloway received $227,000 in damages from UBC for its mishandling of his termination, he has been unable to write. At one point he said he considered suicide. He now sells boats to make a living.

In her 2014 debut novel, Pedals, Rooney thanks Galloway as someone “who encouraged me to commit to writing at a very important time in my life.”

Rooney is currently head of media relations for the B.C. Parks Foundation.

“As Mr. Galloway’s action has progressed, I have reviewed the evidence he produced in the litigation and have come to better understand the basis for his position and his determination to respond to and defend himself against serious allegations of sexual assault,” Rooney says.

In the full version of her apology, which Rooney’s statement says is available at the website gallowayapologies.com, she admits being the one who first passed on the “serious and unproven” allegations of rape against Galloway made by his former student, a woman in her 40s with whom he was having an affair.

Rooney also expresses remorse for continuing to do harm to Galloway by taking her arguments against him in 2024 to the Supreme of Canada, which refused to hear them.

In addition, Rooney says she should never have publicly criticized the authors of UBC Accountable “in a way that could be understood as saying or implying that the allegations I heard from A.B. against Mr. Galloway are true, or that I had personal knowledge supporting them. My understanding of, and approach to, the ‘believe women’ movement was misguided.”

This week’s public apologies by Rooney and some others who went onto social media to accuse Galloway of sexual assault come on the heels of major court developments in Galloway’s favour in late September.

That’s when B.C. Supreme Court Justice Neena Sharma heard that eight defendants in Galloway’s defamation lawsuit, including professors Maillard and Lyon, had settled out of court with him.

The court also heard A.B. will not attend the defamation trial against her, or argue the defence of “justification.” Sharma interpreted that to mean A.B. will no longer maintain she was sexually assaulted.

On Monday, the judge is expected to begin hearing testimony from Galloway, as well from the remaining four defendants.

In addition to A.B., the defendants include Mandi Gray, an academic and author of the book Suing For Silence: Sexual Violence And Defamation Law. A third defendant is Glynnis Kirchmeier, an activist specializing in sex-related cases. A fourth is named as Dana Kagis.