Inquiry Witness Says It Seems Like He Is On Trial

October 12, 2007 — A Cornwall Public Inquiry witness says it seems like he is on trial. Carson Chisholm is the brother-in law of Perry Dunlop who is the former city police officer credited with uncovering child sex abuse allegations in the area. Chisholm says the inquiry appears to be focusing on him and Dunlop. He says lawyers should be questioning the perpetrators (audio below). Commissioner Normand Glaude told Chisholm he is not on trial. The inquiry is off next week.

No plot against bishop: Chisholm; Inquiry witness says he did not expect to be taken seriously when he said it

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

13 October 2007

Posted By Terri Saunders

Carson Chisholm says he was only kidding when he suggested at the Cornwall Public Inquiry people were plotting to poison a senior church official.

Chisholm, a St. Andrew's West businessman and brother-in-law of former city cop Perry Dunlop, who spent years conducting an unofficial investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse, testified at the inquiry this week.

Chisholm was being questioned about a binder Dunlop carried around which contained several photographs of prominent area men which he would use when conducting interviews with alleged victims of abuse. Dunlop would use the binder in much the same way police investigators would gather individuals together in a lineup to assist alleged victims of crime in identifying perpetrators.

Chisholm was asked if he or Dunlop had deliberately removed a photograph from the home of Stuart MacDonald, a city police officer married to Chisholm's sister, and inserted it into the binder without MacDonald's knowledge.

"We went there and took it . . . a photograph from his house?" Chisholm asked commission lawyer Ian Stauffer. "Is that what you're intimating?"

"That's what we may hear some day," said Stauffer.

"We may hear that. We may," said Chisholm. "Did you hear the plot to poison the bishop?"

Upon returning to the witness stand Thursday morning, Chisholm was asked to clarify whether or not there had actually been such a plot. He was adamant there was no truth to the story.

"I was being facetious. There was no plot to poison the bishop," said Chisholm.

"I thought you realized that."

Stauffer said, given the nature of the stories being told at the inquiry, it was a natural reaction on the part of some people in the room to question the sincerity of the comment.

"Our investigators . . . their antenna went up immediately because this is something new," said Stauffer.

"You have to understand that everything you are saying is being recorded and many people are watching this.

And when they hear something like that, many people will assume there may be some truth to it and that's the concern.

"So we have to try to only tell the truth here."

"I assumed that you would catch that," said Chisholm.

"Well," said Stauffer, "I'm not that fast."

Chisholm also took time this week to make recommendations to the commission regarding how abuse allegations should be treated by public institutions and how those who come forward to make complaints or uncover abuse allegations should be protected.

For years, Dunlop has been labeled as either a whistle-blowing hero or a renegade cop, depending on who's doing the labeling.

Both he and his wife, Helen, have spoken publicly about the toll his whistle blowing has taken on their family life and his career.

The Dunlops and many of their supporters, including Chisholm, have suggested the Canadian government needs to enact legislation similar to the U.S. Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. Under that act, an agency cannot take personnel action with respect to an employee because of any disclosure of information by the employee that he reasonably believes is evidence of the violation of a law, rule or regulation.

For years, the Ontario Child and Family Services Act has contained a clause which requires community professionals to immediately report to a Children's Aid Society any suspected abuse of a child.

Dunlop has vehemently maintained he was doing his duty, both as a police officer and as a citizen of Ontario, when, in 1993, he took a file containing allegations of abuse against a city priest from the offices of the Cornwall Police Service and delivered it to the CAS. This week, Chisholm suggested not having protections in place for people like Dunlop will keep others from coming forward in the future.

"Whistle blower protection should be enacted as it is in the U.S.A.," he said.

"Otherwise, who would stand up for any righteous cause if they thought they would be subjected to even half of the abuse dumped on the Dunlops."

Chisholm also talked about the financial burden placed on people like Dunlop, as well as on victims such as Steve Parisien, a city man who was recently acquitted of obstructing justice at the inquiry.

Late last year, Parisien was accused of counseling an inquiry witness to lie on the stand about his contact with Dunlop, a charge Parisien fought in court, and of which he was later exonerated.

"I believe the Dunlops should be compensated financially for loss of career, security, home and harmony and for the incredible effort expended to seek justice for children," said Chisholm.

"Steve Parisien (should) be compensated for months of stress and monetary loss he suffered for being falsely charged with obstruction of justice stemming from this inquiry."

Staying in a financial vein, Chisholm suggested the commission should be more forthcoming about the true cost of the inquiry.

"How much money has this inquiry cost the Ontario taxpayer to date?" he asked.

"A monthly accounting summary should be made available to the public."

Several times throughout his stint on the witness stand, Chisholm compared the process to a criminal trial, a comparison quickly shot down by the inquiry judge.

At one point, Chisholm asked why perpetrators and alleged abusers hadn't been called in for questioning.

"We are the ones being asked the questions, not them," said Chisholm, referring to people such as himself, Dunlop and abuse victims.

"Where are the pedophiles? Where are the diddlers? Where are the homo(sexual)s?"

"You are not on trial here," said Comm. Normand Glaude.

"Yeah," said Chisholm. "It just seems that way."

The inquiry will resume on Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.