Lexi Bainas

The Citizen

Friday, May 23, 2008

Despite seeing a beloved husband and father forced to remain in jail in Ontario, the Cowichan Valley's Dunlop family are still fighting for him and the cause he tried to help.

Helen Dunlop said in a phone interview Wednesday that she has been able to retain the services of Lawrence Greenspon, an Ottawa lawyer who is not afraid of fighting the establishment, to help her husband, Perry.

He was sentenced March 5 in Ontario for contempt of court as he has repeatedly refused to testify at an inquiry into an alleged pedophile ring he discovered in his days as a Cornwall, Ontario police officer.

He has to serve six months in jail.

Dunlop, 46, has been in custody since Feb. 17 when he was arrested at his home in Duncan and flown to Toronto for the court hearing.

The inquiry was called by the Ontario government after a lengthy Ontario Provincial Police investigation called "Project Truth," which probed allegations of sexual abuse in Cornwall as far back as the 1960s.

When he appeared before the inquiry last fall, Dunlop said he was only prepared to read a 110-page-statement he had prepared previously and the inquiry would not accept that.

Dunlop has launched an appeal against his conviction for contempt and his wife and probably one of his daughters will be on hand as it is heard in the Ontario Court of Appeals June 17.

Helen Dunlop, who has been fiery in defence of her husband, says the whole process has been extremely hard on her and her three daughters but she is still ready to fight.

"They're just coming down so hard on Perry. He's asked for weeks for a day pass so he could visit his grandmother who was dying. Perry was basically raised by them and he's the only grandson. It was less than an hour from Ottawa. And they refused repeatedly saying it would put the guards at risk. The only thing they would get would be a good piece of apple pie and a cup of coffee at his grandmother's house but they said it was a security risk," she said.

Just Tuesday, May 20, the date of his own 19th anniversary, officials again refused, but it was too late anyway because his grandmother died that day, according to Helen Dunlop, who said a lawyer will have plenty to chew on in this case.

"There's a serious legal argument here. Not only that he was snatched from B.C. unjustly but that we have three registered letters from the Commission stating that no one would be forced to testify under duress. Then, they turn around and arrest him. It's a national shame and it's getting to the $40 million mark. It's gone on longer than Walkerton, Air India; they're out of control. He still has never seen the actual arrest warrant."

She held a town hall meeting when she was last in Ontario and found it illuminating.

"A lot of victims got up and expressed their anger. They weren't being heard, words were being put into their mouths and they weren't allowed to state how they truly felt," she said.

Dunlop will be transported from the Ottawa jail to Napanee, which is just outside of Kingston, when he goes to court June 17.

"I think (daughter) Marlie's coming back with me this time. She hasn't seen her father. Monica gave a very impassioned speech at the town hall meeting when she was back; it was on YouTube and it's on Sylvia's website, www.theinquiry.ca"

At home, here in Duncan, Helen Dunlop and her three girls are coping.

"It's been really hard on my girls, but especially on my youngest daughter. She's so attached to Perry. She called them out; she called them cowards for what they are doing. They are scaring all Canadians, she said and then asked, who will report this kind of thing now? It was a very good speech. Financially, it's not easy when your income is reduced to one third, but I've always been thrifty, so I'm managing."

Dunlop had to miss seeing his daughter, Heather, in her grad banquet finery Saturday night.

"He was really sad that he couldn't be here for Heather's graduation banquet. He called and he cried, actually, and wrote a beautiful letter that meant more to Heather than gold. She'll save it for the rest of her life; it said how proud he was of her and how hard she's worked.

"She's graduating out of Cow High and he darn well will be here for her if I can do anything about it. I'm hoping the Appeal Court will see that the Divisional Court and this inquiry has gone overboard and have punished unjustly a man who stepped to the plate to protect children."

© Cowichan Valley Citizen 2008