Villeneuve dismissed allegations: Guzzo

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

22 November 2007

Posted By Terri Saunders

A former Ottawa-area MPP said Wednesday a former local cabinet minister "dismissed" allegations of child sexual abuse leveled at prominent men and suggestions higher powers had conspired to cover up the abuse.

Garry Guzzo told the Cornwall Public Inquiry former minister of agriculture Noble Villeneuve said the allegations were nothing more than an attempt by "rabble rousers" in Cornwall to harm the church. "He (Villeneuve) didn't want to discuss the matter at all," said Guzzo.

"He said, 'Leave it alone,' and suggested I was nothing more than a troublemaker for the church."

Villeneuve was MPP for Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry and East Grenville in the 1990s and served as agriculture minister in Premier Mike Harris' cabinet from 1995 to 1999.

Guzzo said he began hearing stories out of Cornwall in the mid-1990s that children had been systematically abused by prominent local men in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and that community leaders had conspired to cover up the abuse.

He said he soon approached both Villeneuve and Liberal John Cleary, then-MPP for Cornwall, about the allegations.

"Noble told me to leave it alone," said Guzzo.

"Cleary was very concerned about what was going on."

Guzzo also testified about a trip he took to Florida in 1997. During the trip, he visited with a retired Fort Lauderdale police chief he'd met during a previous visit. On this trip, the cop took Guzzo to meet with an employee of the Saltaire Motel.

A number of people who have testified at the inquiry, including alleged victim Ron Leroux and former city cop Perry Dunlop's brother-in-law Carson Chisholm, have suggested a number of prominent men from the Cornwall area stayed at the motel in the 1990s and molested young boys while they were there.

Guzzo said Wednesday the employee showed him four registration slips from the motel and suggested many more were available.

"The conversation gets around to how much they're worth to me," said Guzzo. "He was looking to sell them."

Guzzo said he didn't purchase any of the documents.

"He thinks I'm interested in having them," he said. "He says he has more, then he shows them to me. He had many boxes around."

"Did you purchase any?" asked Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.

"No," said Guzzo. "I wanted to get out of there rather quickly."

Guzzo also testified he received a call in the 1990s from Rev. Paul Lapierre and was disturbed by what he was told.

"He said he wanted me to know there were a couple of his colleagues who he was concerned about," said Guzzo.

"He told me he believed his colleagues were involved in sexual abuse of children and he named a couple of people."

In September 2001, Lapierre went to trial in Cornwall on charges he had sexually assaulted a young Cornwall man in the 1970s. The priest was acquitted of the charges, but testified about what he believed was abuse perpetrated by other priests in the local diocese.

found guilty

Lapierre was found guilty in Montreal in 2004 on charges he abused the same young Cornwall man in Quebec in the 1970s.

The priest was ultimately sentenced to a year in jail.

Guzzo also spent time Wednesday talking about when he made notes related to the Cornwall matter and when he blacked out names contained on the original documents.

On Tuesday, a forensic document expert said he believed names scribbled on the documents in pencil don't match the names underneath the obliterations.

Guzzo said he used code names - "Names of football players, friends of mine, people I know" - for certain individuals in order to protect their identities.

Guzzo said he made the notes in 2000, a year after his Ottawa offices were broken into.

He said nothing was missing from either his law office or his constituency office, but his staff said they believed his files, including documents related to the Cornwall matter, had been "tampered with."

"I thought, 'Who's interested in a few divorces or a couple of municipal applications I was working on?'" Guzzo said.

"I conclude there had to be concern for the political end of (my work.)"

Guzzo said he reported the break-in to Ottawa police, and was told to contact his insurance company.

"I was doubly concerned," said Guzzo, referring to both the fact someone had tampered with the Cornwall file and that it seemed the police were not going to investigate the incident.

"I started being very careful about keeping things around that might identify a person."

Guzzo is expected to continue his testimony today when the inquiry resumes at 9:30 a.m.